•i;^ 


.    1        y. 

-     J 

SERMONS 


PEEACHED   BEFORE 


HIS  EOYAL  HIGHNESS  THE  PEINCE  OF  WALES, 

DURING 

HIS   TOUR  IN  THE  EAST, 

IN  THE   SPRING  OF  1862, 
WITH   NOTICES   OF    SOME    OF    THE   LOCALITIES    VISITED. 

By  ARTHUR  PENRHYN   STANLEY,   D.D. 

BEGIUS  PROFESSOR  OP  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY  IN  TBE  UNIVERSITY    OP  OXFORD  J    HON- 
ORARY CHAPLAIN  IN   ORDINARY  TO  THE  QUEEN  )   DEPUTY  CLERK  OP  THE 
CLOSET  ;  HONORARY  CHAPLAIN  TO  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


NEW    YORK: 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER,   124   GRAND   STREET. 

1863. 

[Published  by  arrangement  with  the  Author.'] 


RIVERSIDE,    CAMBRIDGE: 
STEREOTYPED   AND   PRINTED    BY   H.    O.    HOUGHTON. 


TO 

his  royal  highness 
Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales, 


PKEFACE. 


The  Sermons  in  this  volume  are  now  for 
the  first  time  given  to  the  public,  in  defer- 
ence to  the  gracious  expression  of  Her  Maj- 
esty's wishes. 

It  will  be  seen  that  their  interest  depends 
entirely  on  the  circumstances  and  the  occa- 
sion of  their  delivery.  A  more  elaborate 
style,  or  more  copious  illustrations,  would 
have  been  out  of  place  in  the  original  com- 
position of  such  Addresses,  and  would,  if  sub- 
sequently added,  have  destroyed  the  only 
value  which  they  possess.  Whatever  special 
allusions  they  may  contain  to  the  scenes  of 
the  journey  wdll,  it  is  believed,  be  suf&ciently 
explained  in  the  Notices  added  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  volume. 

These  Notices  have  been  written,  in  com- 
pliance with  a  desire,  kindly  expressed  by 
His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
that  some  record  should  be  left  of  a  journey 


VI  PREFACE, 

SO  interesting  not  only  to   those  more   imme- 
diately concerned,  but  to   the   public  at  large. 

Any  continuous  narrative  of  the  Tour  was 
precluded  by  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
The  mode  of  travelling  was  too  rapid  to  ad- 
mit of  scientific  investigations.  The  scenes 
visited,  being  of  necessity  the  most  famous 
and  familiar  of  the  sacred  and  classical  local- 
ities, have  been  delineated  so  often,  and  in 
such  detail,  as  to  render  any  fresh  account 
superfluous.  Of  most  of  them  I  had  myself 
said  all  that  I  could  hope  to  say  in  a  pre- 
vious work  on  the  history  and  geography  of  ** 
Palestine. 

But  there  were,  notwithstanding,  a  few 
scenes  which,  partly  owing  to  the  advantages 
attendant  on  His  Royal  Highness's  j)resence, 
partly  from  the  occasional  novelty  of  the 
route  pursued,  appeared  to  me  deserving  of 
a  more  special  commemoration.  The  No- 
tices of  these  localities  I  have  accordingly 
appended  to  the  Addresses,  with  which  they 
are  connected,  if  not  by  way  of  actual  illus- 
tration, at  least  by  association  of  time  and 
place.  And,  although  in  substance  these  de- 
scriptions have  been  or  will   be   incorporated 


PREFACE.  vii 

in  other  works,  yet  I  venture  to  hope  that 
my  fellow-travellers  will  not  be  averse  to 
possess,  in  the  same  Memorial  of  our  Eastern 
Tour,  reminiscences  both  of  our  Sundays  and 
our  week-days  —  of  some  of  the  scenes  which 
we  exj)lored  and  enjoyed  together,  as  well  as 
of  the  more  serious  thoughts  which  their  sa- 
cred recollections  suo-orested. 


As  the  Sermons  remain  unaltered,  so  I 
have  left  the  Dedication  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  written 
immediately  after  our  return. 

But  now,  on  the  eve  of  the  auspicious 
event  which  promises  so  abundantly  to  fulfil 
the  hopes  then  expressed  for  the  welfare  of 
His  Eoyal  Highness,  He  will,  I  trust,  gra- 
ciously accept  the  offering  of  this  little  vol- 
ume in  its  new  form.  It  is  presented  to 
Him  as  a  pledge  of  the  humble  and  sincere 
interest  with  which  a  former  travelling  com- 
panion joins  the  prayers  of  the  whole  nation 
for  His  lasting  happiness,  on  this  solemn  step 


viii  PREFACE. 

in  the  great  journey  of  life  with  Her  who 
will  henceforward  share  the  responsibilities, 
grace  the  pleasures,  and  lighten  the  cares  of 
all  its  various  scenes. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
February  27,  1863. 


CONTENTS. 

— « — 
SERMONS  IN  THE  EAST. 

PAGE 

Dedication, xiii 

SERI^IONS  PREACHED  IN  EGYPT. 

SERMON  I. 

Abraham  in  Egypt, On  the  Nile,  21 

Abraham  went  down  into  Egypt  to  sojourn  there. 

Gen.  xii.  3. 

SERMON  II. 

Israel  in  Egypt, At  Thebes,  29 

Thou  hast  brought  a  vine  out  of  Egypt.  — Ps.  Ixxx.  8. 
I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  tliee  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt.  —  Ps.  Ixxxi.  10. 

SERMON  III. 

Joseph  in  Egypt, On  the  Nile,  37 

Joseph's  ten  brethren  went  down  to  buy  corn  in  Egypt. 

Gen.  xlii.  3. 


PREACHED  IN  PALESTINE. 

SERMON  IV. 

The  Fragments  that  remain, At  Jaffa,  45 

Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost. 

John  vi.  12. 

SERMON  V. 

Christ  at  Jacob's  Well, At  Nablus,  53 

Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Phil.  ii.  5. 
God  is  a  Spirit :   and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship 
Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. — John  iv.  24. 


X  CONTENTS. 

SERMON  VI. 

PAGE 

Jesus  of  Nazareth, At  Nazareth,  61 

(good    FRIDAY.) 

Pilate  wrote  a  title  and  put  it  on  the  cross.  And  the  -writ- 
ing was,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  lung  of  the  Jews." 

John  xix.  19. 

SERMON  VII. 

Christ  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias, At  Tiberias,  69 

(easter-day.) 

After  these  things,  Jesus  showed  himself  again  to  the  disci- 
ples at  the  sea  of  Tiberias ;  and  on  this  wise  showed  he 
himself  —  John  xxi.  1. 


PREACHED  IN   SYRIA. 

SERMON  VIII. 

S.  Paul  oy  the  way  to  Damascus, At  Rasheya,  79 

And  as  he  journeyed,  he  came  near  Damascus.  —  Acts  ix.  3. 

SERMON  IX. 

The  Gifts  of  Nature, At  Baalbec,  8  7 

In  them  hath  he  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  wiiich  cometh 
forth  as  a  bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth 
as  a  giant  to  run  his  course.  It  goeth  forth  from  the  ut- 
termost part  of  the  heaven,  and  runneth  about  unto  the 
end  of  it  again  :  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the  heat 
thereof.  —  Ps.  xix.  5,  6. 

SERMON  X. 

The  Last  Encampment, At  Ehden,  97 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  ark  set  forward,  that  Moses 
said.  Rise  up,  Lord,  and  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered  ; 
and  let  them  that  hate  thee  flee  before  thee.  And  when 
it  rested,  he  said,  Return,  O  Lord,  unto  the  many  thou- 
sands of  Israel. — Num.  x.  35,  36. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PREACHED   ON  THE  MEDITERRANEAN. 
SERMON  XI. 

PAGE 

S.  John  at  Patmos  and  at  Ephesus, 109 

When  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  He  will  guide  you 
into  all  truth.  — John  xvi.  13. 

SERMON  XII. 
S.  Paul  in  Europe, 119 

Last  of  all,  He  was  seen  of  me  also  .  .  .  that  am  not  meet 
to  be  called  an  apostle.  .  .  .  But  by  the  grace  of  God  I 
am  what  I  am  ...  I  labored  more  abundantly  than 
they  all,  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  which  was 
with  me.  —  1  Cor,  xv.  8-10. 

SERMON  XIII. 
The  Gift  of  the  Spirit, 129 

(WHITSUNDAY.) 

The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father 
will  send  in  my  name.  He  shall  teach  you  all  things. 
Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you : 
not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 

John  xiv.  26,  27. 


PREACHED  IN  WINDSOR  CASTLE. 

SERMON  XIV. 
The  Breadth  of  God's  Commandment, 137 

(trinity   SUNDAY.) 

I  see  that  all  things  come  to  an  end,  but  Thy  commandment 
is  exceeding  broad.  —  Ps.  cxix.  96. 


xii  CONTENTS. 


NOTICES  OF  SOME  OF  THE  LOCALITIES  VISITED 
DURING  THE  TOUR  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES 
IN  THE  EAST. 

PAGE 

Introduction, 149 

Egypt  —  Jerusalem. 

I.  The  Mosque  of  Hebron, 157 

The  Cave  of  Machpelah. 

The  Visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

The  Tomb  of  David  at  Jerusalem. 

Journey  to  Hebron. 

Entrance  into  the  Mosque. 

The  Neighborhood  of  Hebron. 
f 

11.  The  Samaritan  Passover, 199 

The  Passover  on  Mount  Gerizim. 
The  Antiquities  of  Nablus. 

III.  Galilee, 215 

Cana. 

Tabor. 

The  Lake  of  Gennesareth. 

Safed. 

Kedesh-Naphtali. 

IV.  Hermon  and  Lebanon, 235 

The  Valley  of  the  Litany. 

The  Temples  of  Hermon. 

Baalbec. 

Damascus. 

Beirut. 

The  Cedars  of  Lebanon. 

Arvad. 

V.  Patmos, 263 

Its  Traditions. 

Its  Connection  with  the  Apocalypso. 


DEDICATION. 

Sir, 

You  will  perhaps  remember  that,  on 
one  of  the  Sundays  of  our  journey  through 
Palestine,  Your  Royal  Highness  was  pleased 
to  express  a  wish  that  the  Sermons  which  I 
used  to  address  to  our  little  congregation, 
should,  on  our  return,  be  privately  printed 
for  their  use. 

This  request  is  fulfilled  in  the  accompany- 
ing volume.  It  contains  the  Addresses  deliv- 
ered before  Your  Royal  Highness  on  every 
Sunday  during  our  Eastern  Tour,  with  the 
exception  of  the  three  occasions  (at  Cairo, 
Jerusalem,  and  Constantinople)  when  we  fell 
in  with  the  usual  ministrations  of  the  English 
Church  in  those  places.  They  are  printed 
almost  exactly  as  they  were  preached.  Their 
brevity  and  their  abruptness  of  style  is  left 
unaltered.  Nor  have  I  attempted  to  enlarge 
on    the    many   topics   which    are    too    lightly 


XIV  DEDICATION. 

touched  ;  or  to  omit  those  which  I  have 
treated  at  length  elsewhere.  These  peculiar- 
ities, w^hich  must  be  excused  by  the  circum- 
stances of  their  composition  and  delivery, 
may,  at  least,  have  the  advantage  of  recall- 
ing more  fully  to  those  who  heard  them  the 
impressive  scenes  amidst  which  they  were 
preached. 

Of  those  who  so  heard  them,  one,  whose 
approval  I  should  have  especially  valued,  has, 
since  these  lines  were  written,  been  taken 
from  amongst  us.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
speak  of  the  great  loss  which  Your  Royal 
Highness  has  sustained  in  the  death  of  your 
faithful  friend  and  counsellor,  General  Bruce. 
But  in  presenting  to  you  these  memorials 
of  a  time,  with  which  he  must  be  ever  con- 
nected in  the  minds  of  his  fellow-travellers, 
I  may  be  allowed  to  dwell  for  a  moment 
on  the  thoughts  suggested  by  an  association 
so  affecting  and  so  endearing  to  all  those 
concerned. 

In  one  of  the  last  of  our  Syrian  Sundays, 
I  ventured  to  express  our  joint  thankfulness  * 

*  See  Sermon  IX. 


DEDICATION.  xv 

for  the  health  and  happiness  which  had  been 
granted  to  us  during  our  late  expedition.  I 
have  left  this  expression  unchanged  ;  because 
I  know  that  it  represented  his  feeling  at  the 
time,  and  because  I  feel  sure  that  he  would 
not  have  wished  his  untimely  end  to  have 
cast  an  undue  shade  over  the  remembrance 
of  a  journey,  in  the  success  of  which  he  had 
himself  taken  so  deep  an  interest,  planned  as 
it  had  been  by  Him,  whose  loss  clouded  with 
so  heavy  a  sorrow  the  commencement  of  our 
Tour.  If  other  griefs  overshadowed  its  con- 
tinuance, this  last  visitation,  which  was  to  fol- 
low so  mournfully  on  its  close,  was  as  yet 
veiled  in  the  future.  We  may  still  be  per- 
mitted, as  we  recall  many  a  happy  and  many 
a  serious  hour  during  those  four  memorable 
months,  to  cherish  unbroken  the  constant 
image  of  the  noble  figure  of  our  beloved 
and  gallant  Chief,  as  he  rode  at  our  head, 
or  amongst  us,  through  the  hills  and  valleys 
of  Palestine  ;  or  the  easy  pleasantry  with 
which  he  entered  into  the  playful  moods  of 
our  mid-day  halts  and  evening  encampments; 
or  the  grave  and  reverential  attention  with 
which    he    assisted    at    our   Sunday   Services; 


XVI  DEDICATION. 

or  the  tender  consideration  with  which  he 
cared  for  every  member  of  our  party ;  or 
the  example,  which  he  has  left  to  all,  of  an 
unfailing  and  lofty  sense  of  duty,  and  of  en- 
tire devotion  to  the  charge  committed  to 
him.  These  things  we  can  never  forget, 
whenever  we  think  of  the  days  of  that  East- 
ern journey,  of  which  the  recollection  will 
endure  to  the  end  of  our  lives. 

For  him  it  has  been  ordered  otherwise. 
It  was  the  famous  desire  of  another  of  his 
name  and  race,  that  the  heart  of  Robert 
Bruce  should  be  laid  in  the  Holy  Land.  His 
remains  now  repose,  not  unworthily,  beside 
those  of  that  Royal  ancestor.  He,  in  his 
journey  to  the  Holy  Land,  gave  up  his  heart 
and  life  in  the  service  of  his  Queen  and  of 
his  country.  He  has  passed,  we  trust,  into 
that  Holier  Land,  where  he  shall  rest  under 
the  shadow  of  the  perfect  Reign  of  Right- 
eousness and  Peace,  which  on  earth  he  strove 
with  all  his  might  to  advance  and  to  secure. 
If  these  Discourses  —  which  I  now,  with  a 
grateful  and  respectful  remembrance  of  much 
kindness,  dedicate  to  your  Royal  Highness  — 
can  in  any  way  assist  in  promoting  the  good 


DEDICATION.  xvii 

of  One  whose  future  is  so  dear  to  all  of  us, 
and  for  whose  welfare  his  dying  wish  was 
offered  up,  they  will  have  accomplished  the 
object  of  their  author, 

Your  obliged  and  faithful  Servant, 

Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley. 

July  3,  1862. 


DIRECTIONS  TO  BmDER. 

Sketch  Plan  of  the  Mosque  at  Hebron    .        .     to  face  page  157 
Plan  of  Mount  Gerlzim       ....  "  199 

Plan  of  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon       ...  "  253 


SERMONS    IN.    EGYPT. 

SERMON   I. 

ABRAHAM  IN  EGYPT. 


a  T  n  V  T 


THSOLOGIGK 

SERMON  -Kf^ml 
ABRAHAM   IN  EGYPT. 


PREACHED    ON    THE    NILE,    BETWEEN    CAIRO    AND    THEBES,   ON    THE 
FIRST  SUNDAY  IN  LENT,  MARCH  9,  1862. 


Abraham  went  down  into  Egypt  to  sojourn  there.  —  Gen.  xii.  10. 

IT  maj  have  struck  some  of  us,  as  it  struck  me, 
when  the  First  Lesson  of  last  Sunday  afternoon  was 
read  at  Cairo,  containing  these  words,  that  it  was  a 
fitting  welcome  to  our  arrival  in  this  country.  It  is 
the  earliest  mention  of  that  connection  of  Egypt  with 
the  Bible  which  was  never  afterwards  lost.  In  those 
few  verses,  which  describe  the  visit  of  Abraham,  some 
of  the  main  features  of  the  country  appear,  as  we  see 
them  at  this  day.  The  great  river  was  flowing  then, 
as  it  had  flowed  for  ages  before,  and  has  flowed  for 
ages  smce,  scattering  verdure  and  fertility  along  its 
banks,  so  that  when  Abraham  found  a  famine  else- 
where, he  could  still  be  sm-e  of  finding  plenty  in 
Egypt.  There  was  already  seated  on  the  Egyptian 
throne  one  of  the  ancient  dynasty,  called  by  the  name 
of  the  Sun,  whose  brightness  and  penetrating  power 
we  feel  so  powerfully  at  this  moment,  Pharaoh,  "  the 
Child  or  Servant  of  the  Sun."  And  it  is  clear  from 
the  account  that  this  Pharaoh  was  not  the  first  of  his 


22  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT,  [Serm.  I. 

race ;  that  he  was  one  of  a  long  succession  that  had 
gone  before.  The  monarchy  had  ah'eady  grown  up ; 
Iiis  court  and  his  princes  were  round  him,  and  his 
power  and  his  fame  were  so  great  as  to  inspire  awe 
and  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  simple  Shepherd  Chief, 
who  came  with  his  wife  from  Palestine ;  and  when  that 
Shepherd  Chief  goes  away,  the  Egyptian  King  lavishes 
upon  him,  with  a  profusion  of  liberality,  all  the  gifts 
of  Egypt,  such  as  we  now  see  them,  and  such  as  would 
be  most  acceptable  to  one  who  was  still  a  traveller  and 
wanderer  in  the  desert :  droves  of  "  oxen  and  "  herds 
of  "  sheep,  and  he-asses  and  she-asses,  and  camels." 

This  is  our  first  introduction  to  Egypt  in  the  Bible. 
Let  us  ask,  on  this  day,  what  religious  lessons  it  is  in- 
tended to  teach  us ;  what  was  the  relation  of  Egypt 
to  the  Chosen  People  and  the  religious  history  of  man- 
kind? 

It  is,  in  one  word,  the  introduction  of  the  Chosen 
People  to  the  World — to  the  world,  not  in  the  bad 
sense  in  which  we  often  use  the  word,  but  in  its  most 
general  sense,  both  good  and  bad. 

1.  Egypt  was  to  Abraham  —  to  the  Jewish  people 
—  to  the  whole  course  of  the  Old  Testament,  what 
the  world,  with  all  its  interests  and  pursuits  and  en- 
joyments, is  to  us.  It  was  the  parent  of  civilization, 
of  art,  of  learning,  of  royal  power,  of  vast  armies. 
The  very  names  which  we  still  use  for  the  paper  on 
which  we  write,  for  the  sciences  of  Medicine  and 
Chemistry/,  are  derived  from  the  natural  products  and 
fr^om  the  old  religion  of  Egypt.  We  might  think,  per- 
haps, that  the  Bible  would  take  no  account  of  such  a 
country  —  that  it  would  have  seemed  too  much  belong- 
mg  to  this  earth,  and  the  things  of  this  earth.     Not  so ; 


Serm.  I.]  ABRAHAM  IN  EGYPT.  23 

from  first  to  last,  this  marvellous  country,  with  all  its 
manifold  interests,  is  regarded  as  the  home  and  the 
refuD^e  of  the  chosen  race.  Hither  came  Abraham,  as 
the  extremest  goal  of  his  long  travels,  from  Chaldea 
southwards ;  here  Joseph  ruled,  as  viceroy ;  here  Jacob 
and  his  descendants  settled  as  in  their  second  home, 
for  several  generations  ;  here  Moses  became  "  learned 
m  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians."  From  the  cus- 
toms and  laws  and  arts  of  the  Egyptians,  many  of 
the  customs,  laws,  and  arts  of  the  Israelites  were  bor- 
rowed. Here,  in  the  last  days  of  the  Bible  history, 
the  Holy  Family  fomid  a  refuge.  On  these  scenes,  for 
a  moment,  even  though  in  unconscious  infancy,  alone 
of  any  Gentile  country,  the  eyes  of  our  Redeemer 
rested.  From  the  philosophy  which  flourished  at 
Alexandria  came  the  first  philosophy  of  the  Christian 
Church.  This,  then,  is  one  main  lesson  which  the 
Bible  teaches  us  by  the  stress  laid  on  Egypt.  It  tells 
us  that  we  may  lawfully  use  the  world  and  its  enjoy- 
ments, —  that  the  world  is  acknowledged  by  true  re- 
ligion, as  well  as  by  our  own  natural  instincts,  to  be  a 
beautiful,  a  glorious,  and,  in  this  respect,  a  good  and 
useful  world.  In  it  our  lot  is  cast.  What  was  per- 
mitted as  an  innocent  refreshment  to  Abraham ;  what 
was  enjoined  as  a  sacred  duty  on  Moses  and  Apollos  ; 
what  was  consecrated  by  the  presence  of  Christ  our 
Saviour,  we  too  may  enjoy  and  admire  and  use. 
Power  and  learning  and  civilization  and  art  may  all 
minister  now,  as  they  did  then,  to  the  advancement  of 
the  welfare  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God. 

2.  But,  secondly,  the  meeting  of  Abraham  and 
Pharaoh,  —  the  contact  of  Egypt  with  the  Bible,  — 
remind  us  forcibly  that  there  is  something  better  and 


24  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT.  [Serm.  I. 

higher  even  than  the  most  glorious,  or  the  most  luxuri- 
ous, or  the  most  powerful,  or  the  most  interesting,  sights 
and  scenes  of  the  world,  even  at  its  highest  pitch,  here 
or  elsewhere. 

Whose  name  or  history  is  now  best  remembered  ? 
Is  it  that  of  Pharaoh,  or  of  the  old  Egyptian  nation  ? 
No.  It  is  the  name  of  the  Shepherd,  as  he  must  have 
seemed,  who  came  to  seek  his  fortunes  here,  as  a 
stranger  and  sojourner.  Much  or  little  as  we,  or  our 
friends  at  home,  rich  or  j^oor,  may  know  or  care  about 
Egypt,  we  all  know  and  care  about  Abraham.  It  is 
his  visit,  and  the  visit  of  his  descendants,  that  gives  to 
Egypt  its  most  universal  interest.  So  it  is  with  the 
world  at  large,  of  which,  as  I  have  said,  in  those  old 
days  Egypt  was  the  likeness.  Who  is  it  that,  when 
years  are  gone  by,  we  remember  with  the  purest  grati- 
tude and  pleasure  ?  Not  the  learned,  or  the  clever,  or 
the  rich,  or  the  powerful,  that  we  may  have  known  in 
our  passage  through  life  ;  but  those  who,  like  Abra- 
ham, have  had  the  force  of  character  to  j)refer  the 
futm-e  to  the  present,  —  the  good  of  others  to  their  own 
pleasure.  These  it  is  who  leave  a  mark  in  the  world, 
more  really  lasting  than  Pyramid  or  Temple,  because 
it  is  a  mark  that  outlasts  this  life,  and  will  be  found  in 
the  life  to  come.  He  comes  into  contact  with  Egypt, 
with  the  world  ;  he  uses  it ;  he  enjoys  it.  It  is  but 
one  of  the  halting-places  in  his  life.  He  falls  for  a 
moment  under  its  darker  influences  ;  for  a  moment  he 
yields  to  the  fear  of  man,  and  to  the  temptation  of 
unworthy  deceit.  But  in  the  next  moment  he  is  him- 
self again.  He  is  what  we  see  him  in  the  chapter 
which  has  just  been  read,  describing  the  offering  of 
Isaac,  —  willing  to  sacrifice  whatever  is  nearest  and 


Sekm.  L]  ABRAHAM  IN  EGYPT.  25 

dearest  to  the  call  of  God  and  of  duty.  Heathen  tra- 
ditions represent  him  as  teaching  the  Egyi^tians  the 
astronomy  that  he  brought  with  him  from  Chaldea ;  or 
as  reconciling  their  theological  and  political  disputes. 
But  this  is  not  that  for  which  he  is  remembered  in  the 
Bible  and  by  mankind  at  large.  It  is  as  the  Friend  of 
God,  and  as  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  It  is  not  for 
those  points  which  distinguish  him  from  the  rest  of 
mankind,  but  for  those  points  which  we  may  all  have 
in  common  with  him. 

His  character  and  his  name,  as  compared  with  that 
of  the  mighty  country  and  the  mighty  people,  in  the 
midst  of  which  we  thus  for  an  instant  find  him,  exem- 
plify, in  the  simplest  yet  strongest  colors,  the  grand 
truth  that  "  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 
To  be  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it ;  to  use  it  without 
abusing  it,  —  this  is  the  duty  which  we  find  it  so  hard 
to  follow ;  but  it  is  the  very  duty  which  Abraham  first, 
and  our  blessed  Lord  afterwards,  have  set  before  us. 
It  is  what  the  hermits  and  monks,  who  buried  them- 
selves in  the  caves  and  tombs  of  this  country,  failed 
to  see  on  the  one  side ;  it  is  what  mere  men  of  the 
world  fail  to  see  on  the  other  side.  But  it  is  what  we 
may  and  ought  to  follow,  if,  with  God's  blessing,  we 
strive  to  walk  in  the  steps  of  our  first  father  Abraham, 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 


SERMON  II. 

ISEAEL  IN   EGYPT. 


SERMON    II. 
ISRAEL    IN    EGYPT. 


PREACHED    ON    THE    SECOND    SUNDAY    IN    LENT,  MARCH    16,   IN  THE 
GKEAT   HALL   OF   THE   TEMPLE  OF   KARNAK  AT   THEBES. 


Thou  hast  brought  a  vine  out  of  Eg^'pt.  —  Psalm  Ixxx.  8. 

I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

Psalm  Ixxxi.  10. 


WHEN  I  spoke  last  Sunday  about  Egypt,  and  its 
relation  to  the  Bible,  I  said  tliat  there  were  two 
sides  which  it  presented :  one  is,  that  of  contrast  to 
the  Chosen  People  ;  and  the  other  is  that  of  likeness 
and  sympathy.  These  two  points  appear  in  the  Psalms 
of  the  day  which  we  have  just  heard.  Let  us  briefly 
touch  on  both  as  regards  not  merely  the  country,  but 
the  worship  and  the  religion,  of  Egypt. 

I.  The  points  of  likeness. 

1.  The  power  of  Religion.  This  it  was  which  gave 
form  and  direction  to  the  great  works  which  we  see. 
These  buildings  are  the  oldest  consecrated  places  of 
worship  in  the  world,  —  older  than  anything  else  exist- 
ing, —  older  than  any  Christian  Church,  —  older  than 
the  Jewish  Temple.  From  these  the  leading  idea  of 
Solomon's  Temple  was  taken.  In  them  the  principles 
of  religious  art  first  appeared,  which  have  never  since 
been  lost. 


30  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT,  [Serm.  II. 

2.  The  belief  in  a  Future  Judgment  and  a  Future 
Life.  This  caused  the  old  Egyptians  to  build  their 
vast  tombs,  and  embalm  their  bodies,  as  if  to  last  for- 
ever. They  were  the  first  nation  that  had  the  great 
and  elevating  thought  of  thinking  more  of  the  future 
than  of  the  present,  —  of  the  unseen  world  than  the 
seen. 

3.  The  religious  feeling  of  intense  thankfulness  for 
the  gifts  they  enjoyed.  Hence  the  thousands  of  offer- 
ings represented  on  these  walls,  as  if  they  could  not 
be  thankful  enough. 

In  all  these  points,  we  may  say,  with  St.  Paul  at 
Athens,  "  That  unknown  God  whom  they  thus  igno- 
rantly  and  imperfectly  worshipped.  Him  the  true  Re- 
ligion has  declared  to  us  since  more  clearly ; "  and  we 
may  well  ask  ourselves,  as  we  look  round  on  these 
rude  but  gigantic  steps  towards  a  better  knowledge  of 
God,  whether,  with  that  better  knowledge  of  Him, 
we  serve  Him  with  anything  like  the  same  devotion 
and  success  as  that  which  marked  the  efforts  of  those 
first  forefathers  of  the  faith  and  worship  which  we 
have  been  permitted  to  enjoy. 

II.  But  the  Bible  —  and  especially  the  account  of 
the  time  when  Israel  came  out  of  Egypt  —  bids  us  still 
more  to  reflect  on  the  change  made  by  the  Exodus  of 
the  Israelites,  for  them  and  for  us. 

1.  It  was  their  deliverance  from  Egypt.  "Whatever 
else  the  Exodus  was,  it  was  the  first  inauguration,  the 
first  sapction,  of  the  blessing  of  freedom  and  liberty. 
Every  Englishman  knows  what  this  is :  to  be  a  citizen 
of  a  free  country,  of  a  free  commonwealth,  —  to  have 
liberty  of  speech  and  action  and  conscience.  This  is 
that  of  which  the  old  world,  on  which  we  are  now 


Serm.  II.] 


ISRAEL   IN  EGYPT.  31 


treading,  had  no  conception.  These  enormous  huild- 
ings  were  raised  by  the  labor  of  countless  slaves. 
Those  countless  slaves  looked  up  to  the  tremendous 
kings  who  ruled  over  them,  and  in  whose  presence  we 
now  stand,  with  a  feeling  of  awe  and  terror  of  which 
we  can  now  hardly  form  any  notion.  In  their  day, 
this  awful  terror,  no  doubt,  had  its  use.  It  was  the 
earliest  stage  in  the  education  of  mankind ;  to  it  we 
owe  these  astonishing  works,  which  have  guided  the 
thoughts  of  men  ever  since.  But,  if  the  world  were 
ever  to  make  progress,  —  if  the  soul  of  man  were 
ever  to  be  what  God  intended  it  to  be,  —  it  must  be 
able  to  walk  by  itself,  to  lean  upon  itself  and  upon 
God,  and  not  upon  any  human  power,  however  great. 
This  is  what  was  effected  for  Israel,  for  Christendom, 
for  the  whole  human  race,  when  God,  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  and  Aaron,  led  His  people  out  of  the  house  of 
bondage  and  the  dominion  of  Pharaoh.  If,  in  this  and 
other  Eastern  countries,  the  freedom  which  was  then 
given  has  never  yet  been  fully  enjoyed,  yet  not  the 
less  is  it  our  most  precious  privilege.  May  we  all  have 
grace  to  act  and  think  and  live  worthily  of  that  freedom, 
—  that  manly  freedom,  —  that  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God,  wherewith  God  and  Christ  have  made 
Tis  free. 

2.  It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  more  strongly  here 
than  anywhere  else  what  was  the  special  need  and 
force  of  the  First  Commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  have 
none  other  gods  but  me."  The  Unity  of  God.  In  the 
present  day  we  hardly  can  imagine  how  any  one  should 
have  been  tempted  to  think  otherwise.  But  look  at 
the  many  shapes  and  figures  of  the  gods  to  which  the 
wisest  nation  of  the  world  at  that  time  bowed  down. 


32  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT.  [Serm.  II. 

It  may  be  that  even  then  a  few  loftier  minds  saw 
behind  these  many  forms  and  shapes  One  Presiding 
Spirit.  But  it  was  reserved  for  Moses  to  make  this 
high  truth  the  inheritance  of  all  classes  alike.  That 
all  should  know  tliat  there  is  One  and  the  same  God 
for  alU  —  One  and  the  same  for  rich  and  poor,  for  dull 
and  clever,  for  small  and  great,  this  is  what  the  ancient 
Egyptians  hardly  could  have  thought  possible.  In  joy, 
in  sorrow,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, whatever  else  befalls  us,  and  whatever  other  be- 
lief we  may  have,  we  9.II  believe,  and  have  endless 
comfort  in  the  thought,  that  we  are  in  the  hands  of 
One  overruling  God,  who  makes  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  the  best. 

3.  Still  more  strongly  is  the  contrast  brought  out  in 
what  we  call  the  Second,  but,  according  to  some  old 
divisions,  is  part  of  the  First  Commandment,  —  ''Thou 
shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  likeness  of  anything  that 
is  in  the  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in 
the  water  under  the  earth."  We  cannot  doubt  that 
this,  to  the  Israelites,  meant  that  they  were  not  to 
make  to  themselves  graven  images  of  the  hawk  and 
the  ibis  that  fly  through  the  heavens,  or  the  crocodile 
and  the  fish  that  swim  in  the  Nile,  or  the  serpent  that 
creeps  in  the  caves  of  the  earth,  or  the  lion,  the  jackal, 
and  the  wolf,  that  prowl  on  the  rocky  hills.  These 
were  the  forms  under  which,  at  that  time  of  the  world, 
the  human  mind  loved  to  represent  the  Divine  nature. 
Perhaps  these  were  the  best  figures  that  could  be  used 
in  those  early  ages  ;  and  we  may  still  learn  something 
from  seeing  how,  out  of  those  earthly  shapes,  they 
drew  lessons  of  that  which  is  heavenly  and  divine. 
Even  to  us  the  animal  creation,  with  all  its  manifold 


Serm.  II.]  ISRAEL    IN  EGYPT.  33 

instincts  and  powers,  is  still,  if  we  rightly  reflect,  a 
constant  revelation  of  the  Divine  mind,  of  which  it  is 
the  noble  workmanship.  But  there  is  a  more  excel- 
lent way  of  thinking  of  God,  which  these  imperfect 
and  strange  representations  shut  out  from  us  ;  and  that 
is,  the  way  which  was  opened  to  us,  first  through  Moses, 
and  then  through  Christ.  God  is  a  Spirit ;  God  is 
Truth  ;  God  is  Justice  ;  God  is  Purity ;  God  is  Love. 
Whenever  we  fancy  that  He  can  pass  over  or  be 
pleased  with  anything  that  is  untrue,  or  unjust,  or 
impure,  or  unlovely,  we  fall  back  into  worse  than  the 
old  Egyptian  darkness.  In  proportion  as  we  value  and 
revere  truth  and  justice  and  purity  and  loving-kind- 
ness, in  that  proportion  we  are  worthy  of  the  new 
religion  of  the  new  world,  to  which,  by  God's  grace, 
we  belong. 

4.  There  is  the  humanity  which  ran  through  the 
law  of  Israel,  and  which  so  rarely  appears  in  the  an- 
cient Egyptian  religion.  The  first  object  that  an 
Egyptian  saw,  when  he  came  to  worship,  was  the 
figure  of  the  King  receiving  the  command  fi'om  the 
gods  to  slaughter  all  his  captives.  The  sons  of  Israel, 
on  the  other  hand,  were,  by  the  very  recollection  of 
their  own  bondage,  entreated  to  be  kind  to  all  those 
in  inferior  condition  to  themselves.  In  the  version  of 
the  Ten  Commandments  in  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy 
this  is  the  reason  for  observing  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath. 
"  That  thy  manservant  and  thy  maidservant  may  rest 
as  well  as  thou.  And  remember  that  thou  wast  a  ser- 
vant in  the  land  of  Egypt.''^  ^ 

No  doubt  even  in  the  Jewish  Law  this  duty  of  mercy 
was  very  imperfectly  recognized.     But  there  were  the 

1  Deut.  V.  14,  15. 


34  SERMONS   IN  EGYPT.  [Seem.  II. 

germs  of  it,  of  wliicli  I  have  just  spoken,  —  and  these 
were  fiilly  developed  in  the  Gospel. 

Kindness,  consideration  to  all  who  come  in  onr  way, 
however  different  from  us  in  rank,  in  station,  in  charac- 
ter, in  race,  in  religion,  —  this  is  the  doctrine  that  God 
through  Moses,  and,  still  more  entirely,  God  in  Christ, 
has  taught  the  world ;  this  is  the  doctrine  which  even 
to  the  great  men  who  left  these  stupendous  monuments 
was  almost  unknown.  If  in  vast  works  like  these  we 
are  far  below  them,  yet  in  the  little  acts  of  daily  love 
and  courtesy  and  humanity,  which  are  within  the 
reach  of  all  of  us,  we  may,  we  must  be,  far  above 
them 

God  grant  that  when,  in  days  far  distant  and  in 
places  leagues  away  from  hence,  we  meet  in  other 
churches  than  this,  and  hear  again  the  same  Psalms 
and  the  same  Commandments  read,  some  of  these 
thoughts  may  recur  to  us  with  fresh  force  from  having 
been  reminded  of  them  here,  in  the  grandest  building 
which  the  old  world  ever  raised  to  the  glory  and  wor- 
sliip  of  God. 


SERMON  ni. 

JOSEPH  IN  EGYPT. 


SERMON    III. 
JOSEPH  IN  EGYPT. 


PREACHED  ON  THE  THIRD  SUNDAY  IN   LENT,  MARCH  23,  ON  THE 
NILE,   NEAR  MEMPHIS. 


Joseph's  ten  brethren  went  down  to  buy  corn  in  Egypt.  —  Gen.  xlii.  3. 

TTTITH  the  story  of  Joseph,  which  is  now  read  in 
»  »  the  Lessons,  we  may  take  farewell  of  Egypt. 
It  is  the  fullest  account  of  ancient  Egypt  that  we  have 
in  the  Bible,  and  we  can  now  all  of  us  appreciate  it 
better  than  ever  before.  We  see  there  Pharaoh,  the 
greatest  of  earthly  kings,  surrounded  by  the  officers 
of  his  court,  just  as  we  see  them  sculptured  on  the 
monuments.  We  see  the  green  meadow  by  the  river- 
side, where  it  is  described  that  the  King  stood  in  his 
dream,  and  saw  the  cattle  swim  up  through  its  waters, 
and  feed  on  the  bank.  We  see  how  the  Hebrew  slave 
suddenly  rises,  as  in  like  cases  before  our  own  eyes,  to 
be  the  governor  and  viceroy  of  the  whole  country. 
We  see  him  invested  with  the  golden  chain  or  neck- 
lace, and  the  royal  ring,  such  as  it  is  still  found  in  the 
Egyptian  tombs.  He  rides  in  the  royal  chariot,  such 
as  appears  in  the  processions  on  the  walls  of  the  tem- 
ples. He  is  called  by  an  Egyptian  name,  Zaphnath' 
Paaneah.    He  marries  the  daughter  of  the  High  Priest 


88  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT.  [Serm.  III. 

of  the  Hawk-headed  God  at  Hehopolis.  He  is  em- 
balmed with  Egyptian  skill,  and  laid  out  in  the  usual 
Egyptian  case  or  coffin.  His  embalmed  body,  and  that 
of  his  father,  may  still,  for  all  that  we  know,  exist  as 
certainly  as  those  that  we  have  seen  preserved  un- 
changed to  our  own  age.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
as  we  read  the  history  of  Joseph,  we  are  reading  the 
history  of  one  who  really  lived  and  died  in  this  coun- 
try, as  surely  as  any  of  those  whose  dead  bodies  w^e 
have  handled,  or  whose  actions  in  their  lifetime  w^e 
have  seen,  during  the  last  ten  days,  represented  in 
tombs  or  temples. 

But  if  the  story  of  Joseph  has  thus  acquired  for  us 
a  new  interest  in  its  outward  details,  may  we  not  learn 
a^ain  its  old  familiar  lessons  with  fresh  interest  also  ? 
It  is  one  main  characteristic  of  the  Bible,  that  whilst 
its  letter  takes  us  so  very  far  back  from  any  of  the 
thoughts  of  our  own  time  and  country,  its  spirit  has  a 
value  at  all  times,  and  in  all  nations.  Let  us  take  two 
of  these  lessons. 

I.  The  story  of  Joseph  is  a  good  example  of  what 
is  meant  by  Providence  working  for  the  best  in  the 
lives  of  men.  We  find  it  very  difficult,  perhaps,  to 
know  when  we  may  fairly  call  any  event  "  Providen- 
tial "  or  not.  But  no  one  can  have  lived  to  the  mid- 
dle period  of  human  existence,  and  not  seem  to  see  in 
his  own  life  how  curiously  one  part  has  fitted  into  the 
other,  which  at  the  time  seemed  quite  iniintelhgible  ; 
how  opportunities  have  been  offered,  on  the  acceptance 
or  rejection  of  which  the  happiness  or  the  misery  of 
many  years  afterwards  has  depended ;  how  sins,  which 
we  thought  long  buried,  have  started  again  to  our  re- 
membrance ;  how  good  actions  have  brought  with  them 


Serm.  III.]  JOSEPH  IN  EGYPT.  89 

a  train  of  blessings,  of  wliich  at  the  moment  we  never 
dreamed.  How  like  to  all  this  is  the  story  of  Joseph  ! 
Look  at  the  yomig  foreigner,  as  he  comes  to  a  land  not 
his  ow^i ;  see  how  he  resists  the  one  great  temptation 
of  his  age  and  station ;  observe  how,  through  means 
not  of  his  seeking,  through  good  report  and  evil, 
through  much  misunderstanding  of  others,  but  by  con- 
stant integrity  and  just  dealing  on  his  own  part,  he 
overcomes  all  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  and  is  re- 
membered long  afterwards  in  his  adopted  land  as  the 
benefactor  of  his  generation,  and  the  deliverer  of  his 
country.  This  is  the  lesson  that  is  first  taught  us  by 
the  history  of  Joseph,  but  is  repeated,  in  a  measure, 
through  many  lands,  and  in  many  generations,  down  to 
our  very  nearest  experience.  Or  look  at  the  brothers  ; 
how  easy  it  seems  to  them  to  remove  out  of  their  way 
the  one  who  embittered  their  lives,  and  how,  when  they 
could  have  least  expected,  they  are  taunted  and  tor- 
mented and  bewildered  by  the  remembrance  of  the  sin 
of  their  youth.  God  was  merciful  to  them ;  God  is 
merciful  to  us  ;  but  not  the  less  will  there  come  a  time, 
when  we  shall  have  our  former  follies  and  sins  thrown 
back  in  our  teeth  by  ourselves  or  by  others :  "  We  are 
verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother,  in  that  we  saw  the 
anguish  of  his  soul,  when  he  besoudit  us  and  we  would 
not  hear  ;  therefore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us." 
"  Spake  I  not  unto  you,  saying,  Do  not  sin  against  the 
child,  and  ye  would  not  hear  ?  therefore,  behold,  his 
blood  is  required."  Truly,  there  is  a  God  that  judges 
the  world,  and  each  man  in  his  inmost  soul  will  know 
it  for  himself,  if  not  for  others.  "  Divine  Justice,"  it 
is  said  in  an  old  proverb,  "  has  leaden  feet,  but  iron 
hands,"  —  leaden  feet  that  move  slowly,  but  iron  hands 


40  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT.  [Serm.  III. 

that  make  themselves  felt  at  last,  whether  to  strike  or 
to  defend,  to  pmiish  or  to  reward. 

11.  There  is  another  lesson  from  this  story  of  Joseph ; 
indeed,  from  all  this  part  of  the  Bible.  It  is,  perhaps, 
of  all  the  stories  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  one  which 
most  carries  us  back  to  our  childhood,  both  from  the 
interest  which  we  felt  in  it  as  children,  and  from  the 
true  picture  of  family-life  which  it  presents.  How 
like  —  how  A^ery  like  —  to  the  incidents  of  every  house- 
hold is  the  story  of  the  brothers ;  of  different  charac- 
ters thrown  together  in  the  same  house,  —  Judah, 
Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  Joseph,  Benjamin,  the  father, 
and  the  mother,  Jacob  and  his  lost  Rachel !  It  brings 
before  us  the  way  in  which  the  greatest  blessings  for 
this  life  and  the  next  depend  on  the  keeping  up  of 
family-love,  pure  and  fresh,  as  when  the  preservation 
and  fitting  education  of  the  Chosen  People  depended 
on  that  touching  generosity  and  brotherly  affection 
which  no  distance  of  time,  no  new  customs,  no  long 
sojourn  in  a  strange  land,  could  extinguish  in  the  heart 
of  Joseph.  "  Joseph's  heart  yearned  upon  his  brother." 
"  Joseph  could  not  refrain  himself  before  all  them  that 
stood  by  him,  and  there  stood  no  man  with  Joseph 
when  he  made  himself  known  unto  his  brethren.  And 
he  wept  aloud,  and  he  said,  I  am  Joseph  ;  doth  my 
father  yet  live  ?  "  ''  And  he  fell  upon  his  brother 
Benjamin's  neck  and  wept,  and  Benjamin  wept  upon 
his  neck.  Moreover,  he  kissed  all  his  brethren,  and 
wept  upon  them ;  and  after  that,  his  brethren  talked 
with  him." 

Surely  no  long  famihar  use,  no  antiquity  of  Egyptian 
or  Oriental  manners,  can  ever  blind  us  to  the  deep 
feeling  of  that  pathetic  scene,  —  of  that  reunion  of  all 


Serm.  III.]  JOSEPH  IN  EGYPT.  41 

the  scattered  members  of  the  family  in  one  undivided 
embrace ! 

And  is  not  this  the  very  lesson  which  we  all  need, 
and  most  of  all,  perhaps,  when  we  are  away  from  our 
country  in  a  distant  land  ?  Many  things  must  be  al- 
tered as  we  grow  older,  and  as  we  change  our  positions 
in  the  world.  Many  good  customs  which  we  retain  at 
home  must  be  altered  or  suspended  when  we  are 
abroad.  But  there  are  some  customs,  there  are  some 
parts  of  the  human  character,  which  never  need  be 
altered,  which  never  ought  to  be  altered,  which  are 
best  kept  up  by  going  back  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the 
days  of  our  childhood  and  the  thoughts  of  home.  In- 
nocence, —  purity  of  life,  —  simplicity  and  truthfulness 
of  character,  —  regard  to  our  nearest  and  dearest  rela- 
tions, —  daily  prayer  to  God  at  morning  and  at  evening, 
—  these  are  amongst  the  gifts  of  which  our  Saviour 
spoke  when  he  said,  "  Except  ye  become  as  little  chil- 
dren, ye  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
"Of  such"  childlike  characters  "is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 

Home,  —  the  scenes,  the  thoughts,  the  warnings,  the 
pleasures  of  home,  —  the  bonds  of  lasting  and  cordial 
affection  which  reach  across  seas  and  continents,  and 
keep  us  in  spirit  close  to  those  who  in  bodily  presence 
are  far  away,  —  the  images  of  old  days  and  childlike 
recollections  that  visit  us  in  dreams  and  soothe  us  in  sor- 
row and  calm  us  in  joy,  —  these  are  amongst  God's 
best  blessings  to  His  creatures,  these  are  amongst  the 
best  safeguards  He  has  given  us  to  protect  us  against 
new  difficulties,  strange  temptations,  corrupting  customs. 
They  are  the  blessings  which  in  different  ways  we  all 
have  in  common.     Every  one  of  us  has  a  home  some- 


42  SERMONS  IN  EGYPT,  [Serm.  III. 

where,  or  in  some  degree,  father,  or  mother,  or  brother, 
or  sister,  or  wife,  or  child.  Every  one  has  such  an  one, 
far  away,  it  may  be,  but  ever  present  in  thought  to  us, 
to  whom  our  well-being  is  inestimably  precious  ;  whose 
happiness  is,  or  ought  to  be,  inestimably  precious  to 
us ;  to  whom  no  joy  is  so  great  as  the  joy  of  knowing 
that  we  are  doing  what  is  right ;  to  whom  no  grief 
would  be  so  great  as  the  grief  of  knowing  that  we  had 
been  doing  what  was  wrong.  Of  this  sacred  claim 
upon  us,  the  Bible  constantly  reminds  us.  It  reminds 
us  of  what  this  claim  is  even  as  regards  only  this 
world ;  but  it  reminds  us  also  that  it  is  a  bond  which 
reaches  beyond  this  world.  Those  who  have  passed 
out  of  the  family  circle  into  the  world  beyond  the 
grave  are,  in  God's  sight,  and  before  our  OAvn  hearts, 
still  one  with  us.  Whosoever  it  be  that  we  have  so 
lost  (again  I  repeat  each  one  of  those  dear  and  sacred 
names  as  they  may  apply  to  each  of  us)  —  wife,  or 
child,  or  brother,  or  sister,  or  mother,  or  father  —  they 
still  call  upon  us,  or  rather  God  calls  upon  us  through 
them,  by  what  we  cherish  and  honor  of  them,  to  re- 
member that  their  wishes  and  their  hopes  for  us  are 
not  buried  in  their  graves,  but  will  continue  as  long  as 
their  own  immortal  souls.  Their  wishes  are  now  com- 
mands ;  their  licrhtest  desires  now  become  sacred  duties 
for  us  who  remain.  The  very  mention  and  thought 
of  their  names  draws  us  upward  and  heavenward. 
Home  is  on  earth  the  best  likeness  of  Heaven ;  and 
Heaven  is  that  last  and  best  home,  in  which,  when  the 
journey  of  life  is  over,  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  Jacob 
and  his  sons,  Rachel  and  her  children,  shall  meet  to 
part  no  more. 


SERMONS    IN    PALESTINE. 

SERMON   ly. 

THE  FEAGIENTS  THAT  EEIAIN. 


SERMON    IV. 
THE   FRAGMENTS   THAT  REMAIN. 


PREACHED  ON  THE  FOURTH  SUNDAY  IN  LENT,  MARCH  31,  ON  BOAivr. 
H.  M.  S.  "OSBORNE,"  IN  THE  PORT  OF  JAFFA,  BEFORE  LANDING 
IN  PALESTINE. 


Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost.  — John  vi.  12. 

THESE  words,  from  the  Gospel  of  tliis  day,  meant, 
in  their  first  sense,  that  the  disciples  were  to  be 
careful  of  the  opportmiities  given  them.  A  miracle  had 
been  wrought  for  their  support ;  but  this  was  no  reason 
why  they  should  expect  a  succession  of  miracles.  They 
were  to  exercise  the  common  duty  of  forethought, 
economy,  and  prudence,  and  "  gather  up  the  fragments 
that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost."  Miracles  are  not 
wrought  without  a  purpose.  God  works  by  the  laws 
of  nature  ;  we  must  do  so  lilvewise.  Carefulness,  order, 
discipline,  —  this  is  the  obvious  doctrine  contained  in 
Christ's  command.  But  the  words  admit  of  many  other 
applications. 

I.  They  apply  to  all  marked  opportunities.  Every 
dispensation  of  Providence  is  a  kind  of  miracle  wrought 
for  our  benefit.  We  must  make  the  very  most  of  it. 
It  may  be  the  position  in  life  which  is  given  to  us.  Every 
position,  great  or  small,  may  be  made  almost  as  great  or 
as  httle  as  we  desu-e  to  make  it,  according  as  we  make  the 


46  SERMONS   IN   PALESTINE,        [Seem.  IV. 

most  of  it  or  the  least  of  it.  To  do  tlie  necessary  duties 
of  any  station,  that  is  easy  enough ;  but  to  gather  up  all 
its  outlying  opportunities  ;  to  be  ready  to  lend  a  helping 
hand  here,  to  give  a  kind  word  there,  and  a  wise  coun- 
sel there ;  "  to  fill,"  as  we  say,  "  our  place  in  life,"  in- 
stead of  leaving  it  half  empt}^;  to  be  entirely  in  our  work 
for  the  time  being,  this  is  what  makes  all  the  difference 
between  a  great  man  and  a  commonplace  man,  —  a 
useful  man  and  a  useless  man,  —  a  good  servant  and  an^ 
indifferent  servant,  —  a  statesman  or  teacher,  or  ruler, 
who  will  be  long  remembered,  or  one  who  will  be  for- 
gotten as  soon  as  he  is  dead.  Or  we  may  have  a  signal 
visitation  of  joy  or  of  sorrow.  It  is  possible  to  drive 
such  a  blessing  or  such  a  calamity  out  of  our  thoughts, 
and  cut  off  all  its  consequences.  But  it  is  possible,  also, 
and  it  is  far  better,  to  "  gather  up  all  the  fi^agments  " 
that  it  has  left,  to  see  what  it  has  taught  us  which  we 
knew  not  before,  of  our  strength,  of  our  weakness ;  of 
God,  of  our  own  soul.  Or  it  may  be  that  we  have  known 
a  noble  character,  a  good  example.  It  has  gone  from 
us ;  it  is  absent  from  us  ;  we  see  it  no  more.  Shall  we 
blot  out  its  remembrance  ?  Shall  we  think  that  "  out 
of  sight  is  out  of  mind  ?  "  or  shall  we  not  rather  "  gather 
up  all  the  fragments  that  remain  " — all  the  sayings,  all 
the  doings,  all  the  memories,  of  such  a  character,  that 
they  may  still  cheer  and  sustain,  and  guide  and  warn  us, 
in  our  passage  through  this  mortal  Life.  Or  consider 
our  feelmcrs  of  relio-ion  itself.  Few  and  far  between, 
perhaps,  may  be  our  prayers  and  thoughts  of  serious 
things  ;  we  may  find  it  most  difficult  to  keep  them  alive 
(who does  not?).  But  do  not  despise  what  you  have. 
One  verse  from  the  Bible  may  be  enough  to  sustain  us 
m  sore  temptations ;  one  prayer  from  the  Prayer-book 


Seem.  IV.]      THE  FRAGMENTS   THAT  REMAIN.     47 

may  stick  to  us  closer  than  a  brother  or  a  friend  ;  one 
fixed  determination  to  do  what  is  right  may  be  the  ral- 
lying-point  round  which  our  whole  better  nature  may 
form  and  strengthen  itself.  True,  "  We  are  not  worthy 
so  much  as  to  gather  up  the  crumbs  "  of  our  heavenly 
Father's  table  ;  but  "  He  is  the  same  Lord,  whose  prop- 
erty is  always  to  have  mercy."  He  blesses.  He  owns 
our  humblest  efforts.  For  the  sake  of  savins:  that  sin- 
gle  spark  of  good  within  the  soul ;  for  the  sake  of  kin- 
dhng  that  smoking  flax,  and  of  raising  up  that  broken 
reed,  He  sent  His  Son  to  this  earth,  — to  this  land  on 
which  our  lot  is  cast,  —  to  sacrifice  Himself  for  us,  in 
His  life  and  in  His  death. 

II.  These  thoughts  are  all  brought  to  a  head  in  con- 
sidering the  comitry  on  which  we  shall  this  day  enter. 
It  is  a  land,  of  which  the  glory  has  passed  away,  —  of 
which  the  interest  belongs  almost  entirely  to  the  past. 
But  it  is  a  land,  notwithstanding,  of  which  the  name 
awakens  feelings  which  no  other  land  on  the  face  of  this 
world  awakens,  —  a  land  in  which  all  have  a  common 
interest,  —  which  is  known  to  the  humblest  cottager  in 
England,  as  well  as  to  the  loftiest  in  rank  or  station. 
How  are  we  to  make  use  of  it  properly  ?  It  is  by 
"gathering  up  the  fragments  that  remain."  There  are 
nothing  but  fragments.  We  must  not  expect  gran- 
deur of  scenery  or  splendor  of  temples  ;  we  may,  if  we 
choose,  "  pass  through  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,"  and 
say,  "  all  is  barren ;  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen."  But 
it  is  by  thinking  of  what  has  been  here,  by  making  the 
most  of  the  things  we  do  see  in  order  to  bring  before 
our  minds  the  things  we  do  not  see,  that  a  \asit  to  the 
Holy  Land  becomes  a  really  religious  lesson.  The  he- 
roes and  samts  of  the  Old  Testament  have  been  here 


48  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.         [Serm.  IV. 

before  us.  To  see  tlie  places  where  they  lived  and 
fought  and  died  is  not  much,  but  it  is  something,  towards 
enabling;  us  better  to  understand  and  feel  what  it  was 
for  which  they  so  fought  and  lived  and  died.  The  hills 
and  the  valleys,  and  the  cornfields,  and  the  birds  and  the 
sheep,  and  the  shepherds,  and  the  vineyards,  are  the 
very  same  as  those  to  which  the  Psalmist,  and  the  Pro- 
phets, and  our  blessed  Lord  Himself  in  His  parables, 
made  allusions.  The  Psalms  which  describe  "  those  who 
go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  and  do  their  business  in  great 
waters,"  ^  the  descriptions  of  the  waves  of  the  sea  burst- 
ing over  the  rocks,^  or  having  "  their  bounds  set  that 
they  should  not  pass,"  ^  were  suggested  by  this  very  har- 
bor of  Joppa,  in  which  we  now  find  ourselves.  From 
the  vision  of  S.  Peter  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  tanner 
on  the  seashore  at  Joppa,*  went  forth  the  gospel  to  the 
Gentile  world,  till  it  reached  our  own  distant  land.  We 
go  up  to  Jerusalem  where  Christ  died  and  rose  again. 
To  see  that  Holy  City,  even  though  the  exact  spots  of 
His  death  and  resurrection  are  unknown,  is  to  give  a 
new  force  to  the  sound  of  the  name  whenever  after- 
wards we  hear  it  in  Church  or  read  it  in  the  Bible. 

I  do  not  wish  to  exagreerate  in  this  matter.  It  is, 
thank  God,  perfectly  possible  to  be  just  and  holy  and 
good,  without  coming  to  Palestine.  Pilgrimage  is  not 
really  a  Christian  duty.  Holy  places  are  not  really 
holy  in  the  sight  of  God,  except  for  the  feelings  that 
they  produce.  The  Crusaders  were  in  error,  when 
they  thought  to  save  their  souls  by  fighting  to  regain 
the  Holy  Land.  It  is  not  the  earthly,  but  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,   which  is   "the  mother  of  us  all," ^ our 

1  Psalm  cvii.  23.  2  Psalm  xciii.  3,  4. 

8  Jerem.  v.  22.  *  Acts  x.  6,  9. 


Serm.  IV.]      THE  FRAGMENTS    THAT  REMAIN.     49 

mother  in  the  widest  and  most  endearing  sense.  But 
not  the  less  are  all  these  things  helps  to  those  who  will 
use  them  rightly. 

When  Richard  of  England  first  came  within  view 
of  Jerusalem,  he  hid  his  face  in  his  shield,  and  said, 
"  Ah !  Lord  God,  if  I  am  not  thought  worthy  to  win 
back  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  I  am  not  worthy  to  see  it." 
That  is  a  fine  feeling ;  it  is  a  feeling,  at  the  same  time, 
beyond  anything  at  which  we  strive  to  aim.  We  are 
not  pilgrims :  we  are  not  crusaders.  But  we  should 
not  be  Christians,  —  we  should  not  be  Englishmen,  — 
we  should  not,  I  had  almost  said,  be  reasonable  beings, 
if,  believing  what  we  do  about  the  events  that  took 
place  here,  we  could  see  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy  Land 
as  we  would  see  any  other  town  or  any  other  country. 
Even  if  it  were  only  for  the  thought  of  the  interest 
which  thousands  in  former  ages  have  taken  in  what  we 
shall  see,  —  if  only  for  the  thought  that  we  shall  now 
be  seeing  what  thousands  have  longed  to  see  and  not 
seen,  —  if  only  for  the  thought  of  the  feeling  which 
our  visit  to  these  spots  awakens  in  the  hearts  of  thou- 
sands far  away  in  our  own  dear  homes  in  England ;  — 
we  cannot  but  gather  up  some  good  feelings,  some 
more  than  merely  passing  pleasure,  from  these  sacred 
scenes ;  and  can  we  forbear  to  add,  that  there  is,  be- 
sides and  above  all  this,  the  thought  that  we  may  po's- 
sibly  be  thus  brought  more  nearly  into  communion 
with  that  Divine  Friend  and  Saviour,  whose  blessed 
feet,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  walked  this  land, 
through  whose  words  and  acts  in  this  country  every 
one  of  us,  at  some  time  of  his  life  or  other,  has  been 
consoled  and  ijistructed,  and  hopes  at  last  to  be  saved  ? 

"  Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing 
4 


60  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.       [Serm.  IV. 

be  lost;"  —  throw  away  nothing  of  what  we  see  or 
hear;  throw  away  nothing  of  the  good  recollections 
and  calls  to  a  good  life  that  are  still  left  to  us  by  God's 
merciiul  Providence.  And,  oh,  may  He  gather  up, 
and  enable  us  to  gather  up,  whatever  good  there  is  in 
our  hearts  aud  souls  !  Little  enough,  He  well  knows, 
there  is.  But  whatever  that  little  be,  —  whatever 
be  the  pure  intention,  or  pious  feeling,  or  just  thought, 
or  better  mind,  that  remains  in  each  of  us,  —  may  He 
enable  us  to  make  the  very  most  of  it,  here  and  else- 
where, now  and  always. 


SERMON  T. 

CHEIST  AT  JACOB'S  WELL. 


SERMON    V. 
CHRIST   AT   JACOB'S   WELL. 


PREACHED  ON    THE    SUNDAY  BEFORE  EASTER,   APRIL  13,  IN  THE 
ENCAMPMENT  ABOVE  NABLUS  (SHECHEM). 


Let  this  mind  be  in  j'^ou,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus.  — Philip,  ii.  5. 
God  is  a  spirit:  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth.  —  John  iv.  24. 


TTTE  have  lately  seen  mucli  of  the  contentions  be- 
» '^  tween  the  different  Christian  Churches  in  this 
country.  We  have  seen  how  vehemently  each  has 
contended  for  its  own  peculiar  possessions,  and  has 
thought  of  nothing  else  in  proportion ;  how,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  struggle  for  what  is  peculiar  to  each, 
that  which  is  common  to  all  has  fallen  into  neglect. 
This  is  very  like  what  has  gone  on  in  Christendom  at 
large :  we  have  each  of  us  contended  for  what  was 
pecuhar  to  ourselves,  in  doctrine,  opinions,  and  cus- 
toms; we  have  forgotten  that  which  we  have  all  in 
common,  and  which  is  the  most  important  of  all.  And 
what  is  this  ?  It  is,  in  one  word,  what  the  Epistle  of 
this  day  brings  before  us,  — "  The  mind  of  Christ.^* 
The  Mind,  the  Character  of  Christ,  that  which  He  was 
and  is,  in  that  Character  which  is  so  wonderfully  de- 
scribed to  us  in  the  Gospels,  —  to  have  this  in  any 
degree  is  what  makes  a  man  a  Christian ;  not  to  have 


54  SERMONS   IN  PALESTINE.         [Serm.  V. 

it,  is  to  make  all  other  Christian  institutions  and  opin- 
ions almost  worse  than  useless.  To  enter  into  the 
recesses  of  this  Divine  Character,  more  holy  than  the 
most  revered  of  earthly  shrines ;  to  impress  this  Mind 
upon  ourselves ;  to  carry  away  some  portion  of  it  home 
for  our  daily  use,  more  sacred  than  the  most  sacred 
relics,  —  this  ought  to  be  the  object  of  all  that  we  see 
as  we  traverse  the  scenes  of  His  earthly  life ;  espe- 
cially, it  ought  to  be  my  object  in  what  I  have  to  say 
in  these  few  moments  on  this  Sunday:  it  is  the  one 
main  object  of  that  holy  ordinance  of  which,  by  God's 
blessing,  I  trust  we  may  partake  on  Easter  Day. 

To  dwell  on  every  part  of  that  Character  is,  within 
these  short  hmits,  impossible.  Let  me  take  that  which 
is  expressed  in  the  words  which  I  have  chosen,  as  you 
will  all  see,  because  they  were  spoken  close  to  this 
very  place.  By  the  well  which,  ages  ago,  the  Pa- 
triarch Jacob  ^  had,  in  excess  of  prudence,  dug  for  his 
flocks  in  the  noble  corn-fields  which  he  had  bought  for 
his  favorite  son  Joseph,^  He,  who  was  passing,  as  we 
are,  from  Judaea^  through  Samaria  into  Galilee,  "sat" 
in  the  midday,  or  the  evening,  as  we  might  sit,  "  wear- 
ied "  by  the  well.  His  followers  had  gone  to  buy  pro- 
visions for  His  meal  in  the  city  up  the  valley ;  and  He 
sat  there,  wearied  and  thirsty  and  alone,  and  saw  a 
woman  coming  to  draw  water  from  the  well,  and  made 
that  simple  request  so  natural  to  all  of  us,  — ''  Give  me 
to  drink."  It  is  one  of  those  touches  of  fellow-feelino; 
with  us  which  brings  Him  so  near  to  us,  and  us  to 
Him,  even  in  bodily  presence.  It  is  this  moment 
which  is  seized  in  one  of  the  greatest  of  Christian 
hymns  :  — 

1  John  iv.  5,  6.  2  Gen.  xxxiii.  19.  ^  John  iv.  3. 


Seem.  V.]        CHRIST  BY  JACOB'S    WELL.  55 

Qucerens  me,  sedisti  lassus  ; 
Kedemisti,  crucem  passus ; 
Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus. 

Thou,  in  search  of  me,  didst  sit 
Wearied  with  the  noonday  heat ; 
Thou,  to  save  my  soul,  hast  borne 
Cross,  and  grief,  and  hate,  and  scorn  ; 
O,  may  all  that  toil  aiid  pain 
Not  be  wholly  spent  in  vain  ! 

The  woman  who  came  was  a  Samaritan  —  a  member 
of  that  ancient  sect  which  still  lingers  on  this  spot.  To 
her,  a  stranger,  —  a  heretic,  as  she  was  in  the  eyes  of 
a  Jew,  —  He  promised  the  gift  of  the  water  which 
springs  up  from  no  earthly  well ;  the  water  of  life, 
which  rises  within  the  depths  of  the  human  soul,  and 
refreshes  it  with  holy  thoughts,  and  good  resolutions, 
and  pure  feelings,  as  we  pass  through  this  dreary 
world,  bearing  each  our  heavy  burden  as  best  we 
may. 

How  like  to  all  that  He  said  and  did  —  how  unlike, 
alas  !  to  so  much  that  we  say  and  do.  The  tender 
compassion  to  one  who  was  disliked  and  despised  by 
His  o^Ti  countrymen,  —  the  boundless  toleration  of  the 
differences  that  parted  them,  —  the  forbearance  towards 
her  hardness  and  narrowness  and  incapacity  of  under- 
standmg  what  He  said,  —  the  willingness  to  enter  into 
a  character  and  a  life  quite  different  from  His  own, — the 
care  and  anxiety  to  do  and  say  sometliing  for  her  good. 
Which  of  us  is  there  who  does  not  need  some  portion 
of  that  spirit  ?  —  which  of  us  is  there  who,  if  he  has  any 
portion  of  that  spirit,  will  not  feel  rising  within  himself 
something  of  that  stream  of  living  water,  which  shall 
refresh   himself  and  those    around   him,  and  leave   a 


56  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.  [Serm.  V. 

green  spot  beliind,  wherever  he  treads    in    the  hard 
dry,  barren  journey  of  our  mortal  hfe. 

The  conversation  proceeds.  How  exactly  it  is  in 
conformity  with  human  nature  and  with  Divine  wisdom  ! 
He  reads  the  secrets  of  her  heart.  He  touches  her  own 
especial  fault.  She  starts  aside,  —  she  will  not  have 
this  mentioned.  No.  This  is  just  what  we  all  refuse 
to  have  touched.  We  fly,  as  she  did  to  some  general 
topic  :  "  Sir,  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet."  There 
was  the  vexed  question  of  doctrine  between  the  Samar- 
itans and  the  Jews.  They  worshipped,  as  they  wor- 
ship still,  on  Mount  Gerizim.  To  the  Jews,  Jeiiisalem 
was,  as  it  still  is,  the  most  holy  place.  It  was  out  of 
this  question,  so  natm^ally  suggested  by  the  scenery 
around  Him,  that  there  was  brought  out  that  great  truth, 
which  has  changed  the  face  of  religion  all  over  the  world. 
He  would  not  give  his  decision  in  favor  either  of  Jews 
or  Samaritans,  or,  if  He  did,  it  was  but  in  passing.  He 
would  not  entangle  himself  with  pecuhar  doctrines  of 
either  of  the  contending  sects.  But  He  gave  them 
what  was  best  for  both  of  them,  and  is  still  the  best  for 
us.  Gerizim  and  Zion  before  His  prophetic  glance 
melted  into  one.  As  he  looked  out  on  the  wide  fields 
of  waving  com  which  lay  before  Him,  His  eye  kindled, 
and  His  heart  swelled  (so  that  "  His  disciples  feared  to 
speak  to  Him"),  and  He  saw  the  figure  of  the  new  har- 
vest of  the  world, —  of  many  sects  and  of  many  nations, 
—  that  was  to  be  gathered  in  with  the  fall  of  the  old  re- 
ligion of  times  and  places,  and  the  new  spiritual  worship, 
which  was  to  fulfil  and  embrace  the  old.  "  God  is  a 
Spirit."  Everywhere,  at  Jerusalem  or  Gerizim,  in  Pa- 
lestine, in  England,  in  church  or  in  chapel,  in  house  or 
in  tent,  He  accepts  the  service  of  his  faitliful  worship- 


Serji.  v.]         CHRIST  BY  JACOB'S   WELL.  57 

pers.  And  what  is  that  worship  ?  He  expresses  it  in 
two  words,  "  Spirit  "  and  "  Truth:'  "  Spirit  "  — We 
must  offer  om-  ser\ace,  be  it  short  or  long,  small  or  great, 
with  a  feeling  of  what  we  are  about,  —  with  a  sense  of 
the  meaning,  of  the  seriousness,  of  the  awfulness  of  what 
we  are  saying.  We  must  pray  with  energy,  with  mi- 
derstanding,  with  spirit.  If  we  have  this  feeling,  then 
our  words,  our  postures,  our  acts  will  become  reveren- 
tial. If  not,  we  shall  be  still  far  away  from  God,  how- 
ever near  to  Him  we  may  be  by  His  ordinances,  by 
His  Cliurch,  by  outward  appearance.  "  Truth  "  — 
This  is  the  new  grace  which  Christ  has  consecrated. 
"  Love  of  truth,  sincerity," —  that  our  words  in  prayer 
shall  express  what  we  really  want  to  have  granted,  — 
that  our  lives  shall  follow  in  some  degree  upon  our 
prayers, —  that  when  we  call  ourselves  servants  of  God, 
and  of  Christ,  we  shall  be  thinking;  of  doino;  what  is 
pleasing  in  His  sight,  instead  of  pleasing  only  our  own 
fancies,  or  inclinations,  or  appetites,  or  ease  :  this  is  the 
true  worship  which  He  needs. 

We  are  met  together  to-day  at  the  beginning  of  Pas- 
sion week.  We  shall  be  travelhng  almost  every  day 
of  it.  It  is  for  us  to  make  this  week,  though  travelling, 
not  an  unfit  celebration  of  that  holy  season.  The  com- 
mon duties  of  life,  innocent  and  playful  mirth,  the  act 
of  moving  to  and  fro  amongst  these  beautiful  and  sa- 
cred scenes,  these  things,  I  humbly  trust,  are  not 
inconsistent  with  the  remembrance  of  Christ's  most 
blessed  life  and  death,  if,  at  the  same  time  (and  oh,  may 
God  grant  that  it  be  so  !)  our  hearts  rise  to  Him  in 
thankfulness,  in  devotion,  "  m  spirit  and  in  truth,  at 
all  such  moments  as  we  have  to  ourselves,  in  solitary 
ride  or  walk,  in  quiet  morning  or  evening,  —  to  Him, 


58  SERMONS   IN  PALESTINE.  [Serm.  V. 

for  whom  prophet  and  warrior  and  ruler  and  priest  of 
old  times  all  prepared  the  way,  to  whom  every  inno- 
cent pleasure,  every  noble  recollection,  every  lofty 
wish  or  thought,  is  the  best  offering  we  can  make. 

"  Christ,  our  Passover,  is  sacrificed  for  us,"  not 
with  the  sacrifice  and  blood  of  struggling  sheep,^  and 
the  wild  recitations  of  an  ancient  ritual,  but  with  that 
only  Sacrifice  which  is  really  pleasing  to  God,  —  the 
Sacrifice  of  a  perfect  Life  and  perfect  Death.  "  There- 
fore let  us  keep  the  feast,"  not  with  the  unleavened 
cakes  or  bitter  herbs  of  the  Old  Dispensation,  but 
"  with  the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth," 
transparent,  open,  conscientious  sincerity,  and  serious, 
honest,  courageous  truthfulness,  as  in  the  sight  of  God, 
who  sees  our  inmost  thoughts. 

1  The  Samaritan  Passover  had  been  thus  celebrated  on  the  previous 
day. 


SEKMON  YL 

JESUS  OF  NAZAEETH. 

(GOOD  FRIDAY.) 


SEEMON    VI. 
JESUS    OF   NAZAEETH. 


PREACHED    ON    GOOD   FRIDAY,    APRIL    18,   IN    THE   ENCAMPMENT    BY 
THE   SPRING  OF  NAZARETH. 


Pilate  wrote  a  title,  and  put  it  on  the  cross.    And  the  writing  was,  "  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the  Jews."  —  John  xix.  19. 

WHAT  are  the  lessons  of  Good  Friday  ?  especially 
of  Good  Friday  in  Palestine  and  in  this  place  ? 
In  the  words  of  the  text,  in  the  title  written  on  the 
Cross,  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  at  that  supreme 
moment  of  His  Last  Passion  brought  together  with  the 
recollection  of  His  early  years  at  Nazareth.  What  are 
the  lessons  which  they  both  teach  in  common  ? 

I.  Everywhere  the  event  of  Good  Friday  speaks  to 
us  of  the  universal  love  of  God  to  His  creatures.  That 
is  why  it  is  so  tnily  called  Good.  Friday.  It  has  its 
good  news  as  much  as  Christmas  Day  or  Easter  Day. 
It  tells  us  not  only  that  God  is  Love,  but  that  He 
bears  love  to  every  one  on  this  earth,  however  far  they 
may  seem  to  be  removed  from  Him.  It  was  for  this 
that  He  sent  His  Son  into  the  world,  —  it  was  for  this 
that  Christ  died.  It  was  by  His  death,  more  even 
than  by  His  hfe,  that  He  showed  how  His  sympathy 
extended  far  beyond  His  own  nation.  His  own  fiiends, 
His  own  family.     ''  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  "  on  the  Cross, 


62  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.         [Serm.  VI. 

"  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  It  is  this  which  the 
Collects  of  this  day  bring  before  us.  They  speak,  in 
fact,  of  hardly  anything  else.  They  tell  us  how  He 
died  that  "  all  estates,"  not  one  estate  only,  but  "  all 
estates  in  His  Holy  Church,"  —  that  '-'- every  member 
of  the  Church  "  in  its  widest  sense,  not  the  clergy  or 
the  religious  only,  but  every  one,  in  his  "  several  vo- 
cation and  ministry,"  might  "  truly  and  godly  serve 
Him."  They  pray  for  God's  mercy  to  visit  not  Chris- 
tians merely,  but  all  religions,  however  separate  from 
ours,  —  "Jews,  Turks,  Heretics,  and  Infidels,"  —  in 
the  hope  that  they  may  all  at  last,  here  or  hereafter, 
be  "  one  fold  under  one  shepherd,"  the  One  Good 
Shepherd  who  laid  down  His  life  not  for  the  flock  of 
one  single  fold  only,  but  for  the  countless  sheep  scat- 
tered on  the  hills,  not  of  the  fold  of  the  Jewish  people, 
or  of  the  Christian  Church  only,  but  of  all  mankind. 

This  is  a  truth  which  comes  home  to  us  with  pecul- 
iar force  in  Palestine.  What  is  it  that  has  made  this 
small  country  so  famous  ?  What  is  it  that  has  carried 
the  names  of  Jerusalem  and  of  Nazareth  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth?  It  is  in  one  word,  "the 
death  of  Christ."  Had  He  not  died  as  He  did.  His 
religion,  —  His  name,  —  His  country,  —  the  places  of 
His  birth  and  education  and  life,  —  would  never  have 
broken  through  all  the  bonds  of  time  and  place  as  they 
have.  That  we  are  here  at  all  on  this  day,  is  a  proof 
of  the  effect  which  His  death  has  had  even  on  the 
outward  fortunes  of  the  world. 

This  universal  love  of  God  in  Christ's  death  is  spe- 
cially impressed  upon  us  in  Nazareth.  What  Christ 
was  in  His  death.  He  was  in  His  life.  What  He  was 
in  His  life.  He  was  in  His  death.     And  if  we  wish  to 


SERM.VI.]  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  63 

know  the  spirit  which  pervades  both,  we  cannot  da  so 
better  than  by  seeing  what  we  may  call  the  text  of 
His  first  sermon  at  Nazareth.  He  was  in  the  syna- 
gogue.^ The  roll  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  was  hand- 
ed to  Him.  He  unrolled  it.  His  former  friends  and 
acquaintance  fixed  their  eyes  upon  Him  to  see  what 
He  would  say.  And  what  were  the  words  which  He 
chose  ?  They  were  these  :  —  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the 
broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives, 
and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord."  What  He  said  on  this  text  is  not  de- 
scribed ;  we  are  only  told  that  they  "  marvelled  at  the 
gracious  words  that  proceeded  out  of  His  mouth." 
But  what  those  gracious  words  were  we  can  well  see 
from  the  words  of  the  passage  itself.  ''  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  was  upon  Him,"  first,  "  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor,"  the  glad  tidings  of  God's  love  to  the  poor, 
the  humble  classes,  the  neglected  classes,  the  dangerous 
classes,  the  friendless,  the  oppressed,  the  unthought-for, 
the  uncared-for.  The  Spirit  of  God  was  upon  Him, 
secondly,  "to  heal  the  broken-hearted:  "  —  to  heal,  as 
a  good  physician  heals,  not  with  one  medicine,  but 
with  all  the  various  medicines  and  remedies  which  Li- 
finite  Wisdom  possesses,  all  the  fractures  and  diseases 
and  infirmities  of  our  poor  human  hearts.  There  is 
not  a  weakness,  there  is  not  a  sorrow,  there  is  not  a 
grievance,  for  which  the  love  of  God,  as  seen  in  the 
life  and  death  of  Christ,  does  not  offer  some  remedy. 
He  has  not  overlooked  us.     He  is  with  us.     He  re- 

1  Luke  iv.  18. 


64  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.        [Serm.  VI. 

members  us.  The  Spirit  of  God  was  upon  Him,  thirdly, 
"to  preach  deUverance  to  the  captive."  Whatever  be 
the  evil  habit,  or  the  inveterate  prejudice,  or  the  mas- 
ter passion,  or  the  long  indulgence,  which  weighs  upon 
us  hke  a  bondage.  He  feels  for  us,  and  will  do  His 
utmost  to  set  us  free,  —  to  set  at  liberty  those  that  are 
cramped  and  bruised  and  confined  by  the  chain  of  their 
sins,  their  weakness,  their  misfortunes,  their  condition 
in  life,  their  difficulties,  their  responsibilities,  their  want 
of  responsibilities,  their  employments,  their  want  of 
employments.  And,  fourthly,  "  The  Spirit  of  God  was 
upon  Him,"  to  "  give  sight  to  the  blind."  How  few 
of  us  there  are  who  know  our  own  failings,  who  see 
into  our  own  hearts,  who  know  what  is  really  good  for 
us  !  That  is  the  knowledo;e  which  the  thought  of 
Christ's  death  is  likely  to  give  us.  That  is  the  truth 
which,  above  all  other  truths,  is  likely  to  set  us  free. 
"Lord,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight,"  is  the  prayer 
which  each  of  us  may  offer  up  for  our  spiritual  state, 
as  the  poor  man  whom  He  met  at  Jericho  did  for  his 
bodily  eyesight. 

For  every  one  of  these  conditions  He  died.  Not  for 
those  only  who  are  professedly  religious,  but  for  those 
who  are  the  least  so,  —  to  them  the  message  of  Good 
Friday  and  of  Nazareth  is  especially  addressed.  Chris- 
tianity is,  one  may  almost  say,  the  only  religion,  of 
which  the  Teacher  addressed  Himself,  not  to  the  reli- 
gious, not  to  the  ecclesiastical,  not  to  the  learned  world, 
but  to  the  irreligious,  or  the  non-religious,  to  those  who 
thought  little  of  themselves  and  were  thought  little  of 
by  others,  to  the  careless,  to  the  thoughtless,  to  the 
rough  publican,  to  the  wild  prodigal,  to  the  heretical 
Samaritan,   to  the   heathen   soldier,   to  the  thankless 


Serm.  VI.]  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  65 

peasants  of  Nazareth,  to  the  swarmmg  populations  of 
GaHlee.  He  addresses  Himself,  now,  to  each  of  us, 
however  lowly  we  may  be  in  our  own  eyes,  however 
little  we  think  that  we  have  a  religious  call,  however 
encompassed  we  are  with  infirmities ;  His  love  is  ready 
to  receive,  to  encourage,  to  cherish,  to  save  us. 

n.  I  pass  to  the  other  lesson  which  Good  Friday 
teaches  us  here.  It  is  that,  whatever  good  is  to  be 
done  in  the  world,  even  though  it  is  God  Hhnself  who 
does  it,  cannot  be  done  without  an  effort,  —  a  prepara- 
tion,—  a  Sacrifice.  So  it  was  especially  in  the  death 
of  Christ,  —  so  it  was  in  His  whole  life.  His  whole 
life  from  the  time  when  He  grew  up,  "  as  a  tender 
plant  "  in  the  seclusion  of  this  valley,  to  the  hour 
when  He  died  at  Jerusalem,  was  one  long  effort,  —  one 
long  struggle  against  misunderstanding,  opposition, 
scorn,  hatred,  hardship,  pain.  He  had  doubtless  His 
happier  and  gentler  hours,  we  must  not  forget  them : 
His  friends  at  Bethany,  His  apostles  who  hung  upon 
His  lips,  His  mother  who  followed  Him  in  thought  and 
mind  wherever  He  went.  But  here,  amongst  His  own 
people.  He  met  with  angry  opposition  and  jealousy. 
He  had  to  bear  the  hardships  of  toil  and  labor,  like 
any  other  Nazarene  artisan.  He  had  here,  by  a 
silent  preparation  of  thirty  years,  to  make  Himself 
ready  for  the  work  which  lay  before  Him.  He  had 
to  endure  the  heat  and  the  cold,  the  burnino;  sun  and 
the  stormy  rain,  of  these  hills  and  valleys.  "  The 
foxes  "  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  "  have  holes,"  "  the 
birds  "  of  the  Galilean  forests  "  have  their  nests,"  but 
"  He  had  "  often  "  not  where  to  lay  His  head."  And  in 
Jerusalem,  though  there  were  momentary  bursts  of 
enthusiasm  m   His  behalf,  yet  He  came  so  directly 


66  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.        [Serm.  VI. 

across  the  interests,  the  fears,  the  pleasures,  and  the 
prejudices  of  those  who  there  ruled  and  taught,  that 
at  last  it  cost  him  his  life.  By  no  less  a  sacrifice  could 
the  world  be  redeemed,  bj  no  less  a  struggle  could 
His  work  be  finished. 

In  that  work,  in  one  sense,  none  but  He  can  take 
part.  "  He  trod  the  winepress  alone."  But  in  another 
sense,  often  urged  upon  us  in  the  Bible,  we  must  all 
take  part  in  it,  if  we  would  wdsh  to  do  good  to  our- 
selves or  to  others.  We  cannot  improve  ourselves,  we 
cannot  assist  others,  we  cannot  do  our  duty  in  the 
world,  except  by  exertion,  except  by  unpopularity, 
except  with  annoyance,  except  with  care  and  difficulty. 
We  must,  each  of  us,  bear  our  Cross  with  Him. 
When  we  bear  it,  it  is  lightened  by  thinking  of  Him. 
When  we  bear  it,  each  day  makes  it  easier  to  us. 
Once  the  name  of  "  Christian,"  of  '^  Nazarene,"  was 
an  offence  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  now,  it  is  a 
glory.  But  we  cannot  have  the  glory  without  the 
labor  which  it  involves.  To  "  hear  His  words,  and  to 
do  them,"  to  hear  of  His  death,  and  to  follow  in  the 
path  of  His  sufferings,  this,  and  this  only,  as  He  him- 
self has  told  us,  is  to  build  our  house,  the  house  of  our 
life,  of  our  faith,  of  our  happiness,  upon  a  rock  ;  a  rock 
which  will  0;row  firmer  and  stronger  the  more  we  build 
upon  it,  and  the  more  we  have  to  bear.  "  The  rains 
may  descend,  and  the  floods  may  come,  and  the  winds 
may  blow  and  may  beat  upon  that  house  ;  "  but  the 
house  will  not  fall,  '^  for  it  will  have  been  founded 
upon  the  rock."  ^ 

1  Matthew  vii.  25.  A  storm  like  that  described  in  this  passage  was 
raging  throughout  Syiua  on  the  day  when  this  sermon  was  preached. 


SERMON   Vn. 

CHEIST  AT  THE  SEA  OF  TIBERIAS. 

(EASTER  DAY.) 


SERMON     VII. 
CHRIST  AT   THE   SEA   OF  TIBERIAS. 


PREACHEB    ON    EASTER    DAY,    APRIL    20,    BEFORE    THE    HOLY    COM- 
MUNION, IN   THE    ENCAMPMENT  BY  TIBERIAS. 


After  these  things  Jesus  showed  himself  again  to  the  disciples  at  the  sea  of 
Tiberias :  and  on  this  wise  showed  he  himself.  —  John  xxi.  1. 


SO  S.  John,  in  the  last  chapter  of  his  Gospel, 
records  the  last  recollections  of  his  Lord's  appear- 
ances after  the  Resurrection.  On  this,  the  only  Easter 
Day  that  in  all  probability  we  shall  any  of  us  pass  on 
the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  it  seems  the  best 
use  we  can  make  of  the  occasion,  to  draw  forth  all  the 
truth  (and  it  is  of  various  kinds)  that  this  chapter 
yields  in  connection  with  this,  the  greatest  day  of  the 
Christian  year,  with  this,  the  holiest  ordinance  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

1.  It  was  after  the  Lord  had  risen  again  that  this 
appearance  took  place.  "  The  disciples  had  returned 
to  'their  own  homes,'  and  engaged  in  their  usual 
occupations  ;  Peter  and  James  and  John  were  again, 
as  they  had  been  before  in  years  past,  in  their  two 
boats  on  the  lake,  throwing  in  nets  to  catch  the  fish 
which  swarm  in  its  waters.  Four  of  their  friends 
were  with  them, — two  whose  naines  are  not  recorded; 


70  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.       [Serm.  VII. 

the  other  two,  Thomas,  known  as  the  Twin  Brother, 
and  Nathanael,  from  the  village  of  Cana  of  Galilee. 
They  were  once  more  at  their  common  work.  The 
morning  had  just  broken  over  the  dark  eastern  hills. 
The  sun  shone  on  the  lake  and  on  the  tops  of  the  west- 
ern mountains.  On  the  shore  of  the  sea, —  we  know 
not  the  exact  spot,  but  somewhere  along  the  shelving 
beach,  —  there  stood  a  Figure,  which  arrested  their 
attention.  They  gazed,  but  knew  not  who  it  was. 
They  heard  a  voice  calling  to  them,  ''  Children,  have 
ye  any  food?"  They  obeyed  the  advice  of  the 
unknown  stranger ;  and  then  came  the  rush  of  fishes 
into  the  net,  ivhich  at  once  recalled  to  the  disciple  who 
knew  his  Master  best  the  like  scene  on  the  same  waters 
three  years  before  :  "  The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved 
turned  to  Peter  and  said,  '  It  is  the  Lord.'  " 

Let  me  pause  for  a  moment  to  call  to  mind  how  like 
this  is  to  what  occurs  in  human  life.  These  appear- 
ances of  Christ  after  His  Resurrection  seem  to  be  told 
to  us  as  intimations  of  what  still  continues  in  our 
relations  towards  Him  :  "  He  is  not  here,  He  is  risen." 
He  even  then  had  ceased  to  be  to  His  disciples  as  He 
had  been  before.  He  went  and  came  suddenly,  hardly 
known  by  them  at  first ;  then  known  by  some  gesture, 
some  word,  some  old  association.  Is  it  not  so  with  us  ? 
We,  like  the  Apostles,  are  engaged  in  our  common 
occupations.  We  hear  a  voice  from  the  distance.  At 
first  it  seems  to  us  only  some  event  or  incident  of  our 
ordinary  life.  Suddenly  we  see,  we  hear  in  it  the  call 
of  Christ,  the  call  of  God  Himself,  calling  us  to  higher 
thoughts.  A  familiar  recollection  of  old  days  sweeps 
across  us,  to  impress  it  more  firmly  upon  us  ;  and  even 
in  our  engagements,  our  amusements,  our  fisheries,  we 


Serm.  VIL]    CHRIST  at  THE  SEA  OF  TIBERIAS.     71 

recognize  the  hand,  the  voice  of  our  merciftil  Saviour, 
and  are  able  to  say,  "  It  is  the  Lord." 

2.  The  story  goes  on.  There  was  a  yet  closer  in- 
terview, —  a  yet  nearer  sense  of  that  Divine  Presence 
to  be  brouMit  home  to  them.  We  can  imamne  still 
more  clearly  what  follows.  Peter,  who,  like  the  boat- 
men of  these  Eastern  countries,  had  thrown  off  his 
clothes,  to  drag  up  the  heavy  net,  now  girded  on  his 
fisher's  coat,  and,  with  his  usual  ardor,  sprang  into 
the  water  before  the  others,  and  waded  up  the  sloping 
side  of  the  shore.  The  rest,  in  the  little  boat  attached 
to  their  larger  vessel,  came  after  him  ;  and  on  the  shore 
they  found  the  meal  already  spread,  and  their  Lord 
inviting  them  to  come  and  partake  of  it.  They  felt 
that  it  was  no  common  meal  ;  they  were  struck  with 
awe,  — none  of  them  ventured  even  to  say,  "  Who  art 
thou  ?  "  They  gathered  round  him  in  reverent  silence  ; 
and  "  Jesus,"  we  are  told,  "  cometh  and  taketh  bread 
and  giveth  them,  and  fish  likewise." 

It  is  impossible,  as  we  read  this,  not  to  see  the  like- 
ness of  that  holy  ordinance  of  which  we  this  morning 
partake.  It  was  not,  indeed,  in  form  the  same,  but  in 
spirit  it  certainly  was  ;  and  so  it  was  understood  in  the 
earliest  times.  Some  of  the  oldest  pictures  in  the  Ro- 
man Catacombs  represent  the  Holy  Communion  under 
this  very  figure,  —  not  the  twelve  disciples,  but  these 
seven,  with  the  thin  round  loaves  as  of  Arab  bread, 
and  the  fishes  lying  beside  them  as  from  this  sacred 
lake.  It  is  the  fitting  likeness  of  the  Holy  Communion, 
because  it  was  a  meal  of  the  common  elements  of  sus- 
tenance, and  yet  invested  with  such  a  solemn  and 
mysterious  character,  that  they  who  partook  of  it  then 
felt,  as  we  who  partake  of  it  now  feel,  that  there  is 


72  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.       [Serm.  VII. 

something  in  it  which  brings  us  nearer  than  any  other 
ordinance  or  ceremony  of  rehgion  into  the  presence  of 
our  Divine  Saviour,  who  is  no  longer  on  earth,  but  in 
Heaven.  It  recalled  to  them,  as  it  recalls  to  us,  the 
days  when  He  ate  and  drank  and  lived  with  them  on 
earth.  It  drew  their  thouo-hts,  as  it  oucrht  to  draw 
ours,  heavenward,  to  Him  who  dwells  above  all  our 
earthly  cares  and  griefs  and  joys.  It  drew  their 
thoughts,  as  it  ought  to  draw  ours,  to  a  nearer  and  clo- 
ser communion  with  each  other,  —  with  their  and  our 
fellow-disciples  elsewhere.  They  must  have  felt  that 
in  that  sacred  Presence,  at  least  for  the  time,  one  only 
thought  was  in  all  their  minds  alike.  We,  in  like  man- 
ner, feel,  as  we  partake  of  this  blessed  remembrance  of 
His  Death  and  Resurrection,  that,  however  various  our 
characters  and  stations,  one  thought  for  the  moment 
binds  us  all  together,  and  not  us  only, —  the  small  com- 
pany who  are  here  assembled,  —  but  all  who  are  near 
and  dear  to  us  far  away ;  far  away  in  the  several  homes 
of  our  native  land ;  those,  too,  who  are  far  away  in 
their  Eternal  Home,  and  who  share  in  a  yet  deeper 
and  fuller  communion  with  Him  in  whose  immediate 
presence  they  are. 

3.  And  this  brings  me  to  the  close  of  the  narrative. 
There  were,  as  I  have  said,  seven  only  out  of  the 
twelve  disciples.  But  these  seven  contained  very  dif- 
ferent characters,  characters  so  different  from  each 
other,  as  to  represent  almost  every  phase  of  the  human 
soul  and  mind  that  can  be  brought  into  communion 
with  God  and  Christ.  There  was  the  ardent,  impa- 
tient, active  Peter.  There  was  the  devoted,  loving 
John.  There  was  James,  the  zealous  Son  of  Thunder, 
the  courageous  youth  who,  first  of  the  Apostles,  died  a 


Serm.  VIL]     CHRIST  AT  THE  SEA  OF  TIBERIAS.     73 

martyr's  death.  There  was  Nathanael,  the  blameless, 
sincere,  and  candid  Israelite  in  whom  there  was  to  be 
found  no  guile.  There  was  Thomas,  the  doubting,  rea- 
soning, inquiring,  philosophic  Apostle,  who  believed,  in 
spite  of  his  doubts  and  because  of  his  reasonable  con- 
victions. Each  of  these,  as  each  of  us,  stood,  or  sat, 
or  knelt  beside  their  Master,  to  receive  whatever  mes- 
sage He  had  to  give.  Of  these,  two  only  are  specially 
named,  as  receiving  special  warnings  or  encourage- 
ments. But  in  these  two  we  may  all  find  ourselves 
included.  One  was  Peter.  We  need  not  now  think 
of  Peter's  peculiar  character.  We  need  only  remem- 
ber that  he  was,  as  we  are,  compassed  with  weakness, 
—  that  he  had  thrice  from  weakness,  as  we  not  thrice 
only,  but  many  times  over,  denied  his  Lord,  failed  in 
the  hour  of  trial,  done  what  he  most  hated  himself  for 
having  done,  left  undone  that  which  of  all  things  in  the 
world  he  would  most  have  desired  to  have  done.  To 
him,  as  to  each  of  us,  in  that  sacred  communion  by  the 
sea  of  Tiberias,  our  Lord  approached,  calling  him  by 
his  own  peculiar  name  and  address  :  "  Simon.,  son  of 
Jonas.,  lovest  thou  Me  ?  "  Thrice,  as  if  for  the  three 
denials,  He  asked  this  question,  as  if  to  show  that  for 
all  our  failings  and  misdoings  in  the  past  there  is  but 
one  remedy  for  the  future,  and  that  is,  to  overcome 
past  evil  by  future  good,  to  blot  out  fresh  failures  by 
renewed  exertions  in  the  love  and  service  of  goodness. 
'•''Lovest  thou  Me  more  than  these? ''^  Yes,  that  is  the 
great  question,  —  "  Lovest  thou  me  ?  "  "  Hast  thou 
any  regard  for  the  commands,  for  the  mind,  for  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  more  than  others,  above  all  earthly 
desires  ?  "  "  Hast  thou  this  in  any  degree  ?  "  We  an- 
swer, I  am  sure  we  should  all  wish  to  answer,  as  he  did, 


74  SERMONS   IN  PALESTINE.       [Serm.  VII. 

— "  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  Hove  thee.^^  "  Thou  know- 
est  that  I  wish  to  love  Thee.  Thou  knowest  that  here, 
on  this  day  and  in  this  sacred  orchnance,  I  pledge 
myself  to  be  Thy  disciple.  Thou  knowest  all  things  ; 
Thou  knowest  our  infirmities  ;  Thou  knowest  our  igno- 
rance ;  Thou  knowest  that  this  is  our  firm  intention 
and  resolution." 

So  Peter  said  ;  so  we  say  and  feel  also.  And  to 
Peter,  and  to  each  of  us,  the  same  answer  comes  back 
as  the  last  charge  of  our  departing  Lord,  —  as  the  only 
test  of  our  sincerity  in  this  profession,  '•^Feed  my  sheep, 
Feed  My  lamhsy  That  is,  our  love  to  Christ  can  only 
be  shown  by  the  care,  the  tender,  active,  constant  care, 
for  the  welfare  of  others,  —  of  those  whom  He  by  His 
Providence  has  placed  or  will  place  in  any  degree  un- 
der our  charge.  To  be  shepherds  of  mankind,  —  this, 
in  its  full  sense,  belongs  to  the  rulers  of  nations  and 
the  pastors  of  human  souls  ;  but,  in  a  lesser  sense,  it 
belongs  to  every  one  of  us  who  has  any  influence  over 
those  who  are  near  us.  To  feed,  to  guide,  to  support, 
to  be  attentive,  considerate,  kind,  helpful,  to  these,  is 
indeed  the  best  proof  of  our  love  of  Christ.  And  this. 
He  continues  to  say,  we  must  do,  even  although  it 
cost  us  much.  "  Verily  I  say  unto  thee.  When  thou 
wast  young,  when  thou  wast  a  fisherman's  boy,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Galilean  lake,  ^/^ow  girdedst  thyself,  in  thy 
fisher's  coat,  and  walkedst  over  these  hills  and  valleys 
whither  thou  ivoiddest :  hut  ivhen  thou  shalt  he  old,  as 
years  and  duties  and  infirmities  increase,  thou  shalt 
stretch  forth  thy  hands,  even  on  the  cross  of  martyrdom, 
and  another,  the  Roman  executioner,  shall  gird  thee, 
with  the  bonds  of  imprisonment,  and  carry  thee  whitJier 
thou  wouldest  tiot,  even  to  the  place  where  thou  must 


Sebm.  VII.]    CHRIST  AT  THE  SEA  OF  TIBERIAS.     75 

glorify  God  by  tliy  death."  Even  so,  in  speaking  to 
us,  He  bids  us  look  forward  far  into  the  future.  We 
shall  not  be  always  as  we  are  now.  To  most  of  us, 
our  cares,  our  difficulties,  our  restraints,  our  respon- 
sibilities, perhaps  our  pains  and  sorrow^s,  will  increase. 
There  is  but  one  thing  which  will  turn  this  bondage 
mto  liberty,  and  that  is  the  final  charge  which  our 
Lord  gives  to  Peter,  "  Follow  thou  me."  "  Follow 
thou  Christ,  in  His  tnith.  His  justice.  His  purity,  His 
love,  through  good  report  and  evil,  through  joy  and 
grief,  through  youth  and  age,  and  thou  wilt  never 
repent  of  having  made  that  good  choice,  and  chosen 
that  better  part." 

4.  One  more  word,  to  guide  our  thouo-hts  in  reo-ard 
to  another  kind  of  character,  the  Beloved  Disciple  has 
left  from  that  parting  scene  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias. 
Peter  tiu-ned,  as  they  walked  along  the  shore,  and  saw 
that  beloved  disciple  himself,  his  own  dear  friend  and 
companion,  following  close  beliind.  He  longed  to 
know  sometliing  more  of  the  future  fate,  something 
more  of  the  present  duty,  of  that  best  and  bravest 
and  hohest  of  all  the  disciples,  in  comparison  w^ith 
whom  he  felt  himself  to  be  as  notliing.  He  asked, 
"  Lord,  and  ivhat  shall  this  man  do  ?  "  So  we  ask  con- 
cerning those  whom  we  feel  to  be  better  and  wiser 
than  we,  concerning  those  whom  we  know  to  be  far 
above  our  reach,  concerning  those  w^hom  God  has 
taken  to  Himself.  Where  are  they  ?  What  will  be, 
what  is,  their  fate  ?  What  are  we,  compared  with 
them  ?  Can  we  ever  attain  to  them  ?  The  answer  of 
om-  Lord  to  Peter  is  still  the  answer  to  us  :  '-'•  If  I  ivill 
that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee?  folloiv  thou 
Me:'     It  is  as  though  He  said,  "  Tnist  in  Me.     My 


76  SERMONS  IN  PALESTINE.        [Skrm.  VII. 

will  and  God's  will  is  the  best  for  liim  and  for  tliee. 
Leave  to  me  the  disposal  even  of  the  best  and  dearest 
friends  thou  hast.  Vex  not  thyself  with  the  difference 
between  thyself  and  them.  One  duty,  one  blessing, 
one  happiness,  is  still  left  to  thee.  Though  all  else  be 
taken  away,  though  their  paths  and  thine  be  far  re- 
moved and  henceforth  asunder,  though  it  seems  impos- 
sible for  us  to  be  as  they  were  and  as  they  are, — 
Follow  thou  thy  Lord  and  Master."  Follow  aftei 
Him,  though  it  may  be  at  an  immeasurable  distance. 
Follow  Him  in  His  long  endurance  and  His  great 
humility.  Follow  Him  in  the  good  deeds  which  He 
wroucrht  beside  this  blessed  lake.  Follow  Him  with  a 
bold  and  cheerful  spirit  m  the  happy  and  glorious  vic- 
tory which  He  won  over  sin  and  over  death ;  and  in 
the  end  thou  shalt  find  in  Him  the  true  communion  and 
fellowship  wliich  He  only  can  give,  with  all  who,  —  far 
and  near,  on  this  side  the  grave  or  beyond  it,  —  have 
cheered  and  encom-aged  and  urged  our  affections, 
forwards,  onwards,  upwards,  from  things  on  earth  to 
things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 
God. 


SEEMONS    IN    SYRIA. 


SERMON  Vm. 

S.  PAUL  ON   THE  WAY  TO  DAMASCUS. 


SERMON    VIII. 
S.   PAUL   ON  THE  WAY  TO   DAMASCUS. 


PREACHED  IN  THE  ENCAMPMENT,  ON  THE  ANTI-LEBANON,  ON  THE 
FIRST  SUNDAY  AFTER  EASTER,  APRIL  27,  THE  DAY  BEFORE 
REACHING  DAMASCUS. 


And  as  lie  journe3''ed,  he  came  near  Damascus.  —  Acts  ix.  3. 

OF  liow  many  travellers  lias  tliis  been  said,  as  of 
US !  How  many  thouglits  have  been  awakened 
by  the  approach  to  the  most  ancient  of  existing 
cities !  Abraham,  as  he  journeyed  from  the  far 
East,  drew  near  to  Damascus,  and  there  halted  on 
his  way  to  the  land  which  was  to  be  his  own  and 
his  children's  for  ages  to  come  ;  and,  as  it  would  seem, 
conquered  the  great  city,  already  the  glory  of  the 
East,  already  the  prize  of  the  powerful  ones  of  the 
earth.  Elisha,  as  he  journeyed  from  Samaria,  drew 
near  to  Damascus,  and  met  on  the  road  the  long  train 
of  forty  camels,  with  presents  of  every  good  thing  of 
Damascus,  to  propitiate  his  favor  to  the  King  of  Syina, 
who  felt  the  awe  which  the  coming  of  the  man  of  God 
spread  before  him.  Ahaz  "  went  up  to  Damascus  "  to 
meet  the  great  King  of  Assyi'ia,  and  there  saw  the 
altar  so  curiously  wrought  by  Syrian  art  as  to  become 
the  model  of  the  high  altar  of  Jerusalem.  JNIahomet, 
the  Prophet  of  the  Mussulman  rehgion,  according  to 


80  SERMONS  IN   SYRIA.  [Seem.  VIII. 

the  traditions  of  his  own  countrymen,  as  he  jom-neyed 
from  Arabia,  drew  near  to  Damascus,  and,  as  he  looked 
down  upon  the  splendid  view  which  we,  I  tinist,  shall 
see  to-morrow,  said,  with  a  nobleness  of  sentiment 
which  we  cannot  but  admire,  though  in  another  creed 
than  our  own,  "  Man  can  have  but  one  Paradise  in 
hfe,  —  my  Paradise  is  fixed  above  ;  "  and  turned  away 
without  entering  that  glorious  city,  lest  it  should  tempt 
him  from  his  prophetic  mission.  But  of  all  the  travel- 
lers who,  "  as  they  journeyed  came  near  to  Damascus," 
there  is  none  who  has  such  an  interest  for  us  as  the 
great  Apostle  of  whom  the  Second  Lesson  to-day  has 
spoken  to  us,  and  whose  path,  for  the  first  time  in  our 
travels,  we  thus  encounter. 

1.  Very  briefly  to-day  let  us  consider  his  conversion 
and  his  preaching.  He  was  on  his  way  from  Jeru- 
salem. He  "came  near  Damascus,"  —  we  know  not 
how  near,  we  know  not  by  which  approach.  It  was 
noon ;  the  Syrian  sun  was  bright  in  the  heavens ;  he 
was  charged  with  a  mission,  which  admitted  of  no 
delay  in  his  eyes,  —  that  of  destroying  the  Christians 
in  Damascus,  with  a  savage  zeal  like  to  that  which  in 
our  own  days  has  laid  waste  the  same  city.  In  one 
moment,  his  career  was  arrested  by  the  heavenly  vision 
which  ended  in  the  great  act  which  we  call  his  "  con- 
version." It  is  an  instance,  such  as  we  find  still  occur- 
ring but  rarely,  of  a  sudden  conversion.  Yet  "  a  con- 
version," that  is,  "a  turning  round  "  from  bad  to  good, 
from  good  to  better,  is  necessary  for  us  all.  We  are 
sometimes  inclined  to  think  that  om'  characters,  once 
formed,  can  never  be  changed.  This  is  not  true ;  at 
least  it  is  only  half  true.  Our  natural  dispositions,  our 
natural  faculties,  these  do  very  rarely  change ;  but  the 


Serm.  VIIL]   PAUL  JOURNEYING  TO  DAMASCUS.   81 

direction  that  tliey  take  can  be  changed ;  and  the  dif- 
ference between  their  upward  and  their  downward 
direction  is  the  difference  effected  by  anything  which 
deserves  the  name  of  conversion,  whether  sudden,  as 
in  the  case  of  S.  Paul,  or  gradual,  as  with  most  of  us. 
He,  in  great  measure,  remained  the  same  as  he  was 
before,  —  he  retained  his  zeal,  his  power,  his  energy ; 
but  the  turn  which  was  given  to  these  natural  qualities, 
by  his  conversion  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  gave  a 
turn  to  his  whole  life,  and,  through  him,  a  tmii  to  the 
life  of  the  whole  world.  He  approached  Damascus, 
a  furious  persecutor ;  he  entered  it,  a  humble  penitent ; 
he  left  it,  a  great  Apostle.  So  is  it  with  us.  Much 
about  us  never  will  be  changed,  never  need  be  changed, 
never  can  be  changed ;  but  much  about  us  can  be 
changed,  ought  to  be  changed,  and,  with  God's  good 
help,  will  be  changed.  We  are  all  on  the  road,  not  to 
Damascus  only,  but  to  some  end  or  object  of  our  pur- 
suits. To  every  one  of  us,  as  to  S.  Paul,  that  end  or 
object  will  at  last  appear  in  a  light  totally  different 
from  what  we  now  expect ;  and  on  that  changed  hght 
may  depend  our  exceeding  happiness  or  our  exceeding 
misery,  our  great  usefulness  or  our  utter  uselessness  in 
life. 

2.  This  was  the  conversion  of  the  Apostle  ;  let  us 
see  how  it  was  brouo-ht  about.  It  was  brouo-ht  about, 
first,  by  the  vision  of  Christ.  How  this  entered  into 
his  soul  we  know  not ;  but  that  it  did  enter  there,  is 
sure  from  all  that  he  afterwards  did  and  said.  And  it 
is  this  same  communion  with  Christ,  with  the  good- 
ness, the  wisdom,  the  love  of  Christ,  which  still  is  the 
most  powerful  instrument  of  making  every  human  soul 
better  and  wiser  and  nobler  than  it  was  before.     It 


82  SERMONS  IN   SYRIA.  [Serm.  VIII. 

was,  secondly,  by  calling  to  his  mind  the  true  knowl- 
edo-e  of  what  he  was  doino;.  He  thouMit  that  he  was 
doing  God  service  by  trampling  down  a  noxious  and 
heretical  sect.  That  voice  from  heaven  told  him  that 
in  those  poor  Christians  he  was  trampling  down  and 
persecuting  the  Great  Friend  and  Deliverer  of  the 
world.  "  Saul^  Saul^  why  persecutest  thou  me  ?  1 
am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest^  Yes,  so  it  is  still; 
often  and  often  we  think  that  we  are  all  right ;  that 
no  one  can  find  fault  with  us  ;  that  those  whom  we 
neglect  or  despise,  or  set  aside,  are  not  worth  consider- 
ing for  a  moment.  And  yet  all  the  while,  as  God  sees 
us,  as  others  see  us,  we  are  injuring  the  very  cause  we 
wish  to  promote  ;  those  of  whom  we  think  so  little  may 
be  the  very  likenesses  and  representatives  to  us  of  God 
and  Christ  Himself  In  injuring  them,  in  despising  them, 
we  may  be  doing  the  most  wide-spread  mischief,  we  may 
be  defying  God,  we  may  be  even  destroying  our  own 
souls.  In  helping  them,  in  considering  them,  we  are 
serving  Christ  Himself  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  the  least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  Me."  His  conversion  was,  thirdly,  by  the 
appeal  to  the  best  part  of  his  own  heart.  "  It  is  hard 
for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks^"*  against  the  goad, 
ao-ainst  the  stino-s,  of  conscience.  He  had  doubtless 
already  had  better  feelings  stirring  within  him  from 
what  he  had  seen  of  the  death  of  Stephen  and  of  the 
good  deeds  of  the  early  Christians.  In  this  way  his 
conversion,  sudden  as  it  seemed  at  last,  had  been  long 
prepared.  His  conscience  had  been  ill  at  ease  with 
itself;  and  in  this  perplexity  and  doubt,  it  needed  only 
that  one  blessed  interposition  of  his  merciful  Lord,  to 
recall  him  to  a  sense  of  his  better  self     Wide  as  are 


Serm.  VIIL]    PAUL  JOURNEYING  TO  DAMASCUS.    83 

the  differences  between  us  and  the  Apostle,  yet  here 
is  a  point  which  we  all  have  in  common  with  him.  We 
each  of  us  have  a  conscience ;  each  of  us  has  that 
within  him  which  can  be  reached,  if  only  w^e  knew 
how ;  each  of  us  has  a  barrier  against  sin  set  up  within 
him,  against  which  we  may  kick  and  struggle,  but 
which  will,  thanks  to  the  mercy  of  God  who  has  placed 
it  there,  long  resist  our  efforts.  We  have  but  to  think 
of  what  in  our  best  moments  we  condemn ;  that  is 
what  we  have  to  avoid  ;  we  have  but  to  think  of  what 
in  our  best  moments  we  approve  in  others ;  that  is 
what  we  have  to  strive  for.  The  recollection  of 
Stephen's  martyrdom  was  probably  the  first  seed  of  S. 
Paul's  conversion ;  the  recollection  of  any  good  act, 
which  has  called  forth  our  admiration  in  past  times, 
may  be  the  beginning  of  our  doing  the  like  in  times 
to  come,  far  beyond  anything  that  we  now  think  or 
dream  of 

8.  There  is  one  more  thought  suggested  by  S. 
Paul's  conversion  on  his  road  to  Damascus,  and  that 
is  what  resulted  from  it.  This  is  too  great  a  subject 
to  be  spoken  of  here  in  all  its  parts.  But  one  single 
point  is  put  before  us  by  the  lesson  ^  of  this  morning's 
Service.  What  he  taught  in  his  Epistles  concerns  the 
Church  at  large ;  but  what  he  preached  to  Felix, 
though  it  may  have  concerned  especially  that  unjust 
and  licentious  Roman  governor,  does  also  in  its 
measure  concern  each  of  us  as  individuals.  He 
"reasoned"  with  Felix,  he  argued,  he  urged,  not 
preaching,  not  teaching,  but  talking  with  him,  as  one 
friend  eagerly  and  seriously  talks  to  convince  another, 
on  three  subjects,  on  three  words,  each  of  which  is  a 

1  Acts  xxiv.  25. 


84  SERMONS    IN   SYRIA.  [Seem.  YIII. 

sermon  in  itself,  Righteousness,  Temperance,  and  Judg- 
ment to  come.  HigJiteousness,  that  is,  justice,  fairness, 
impartiality,  the  duty  of  dealing  calmly  and  candidly 
and  uprightly  with  those  who  are  under  us,  or  above 
us,  or  equal  to  us.  Temperance,  that  is,  self-control, 
self-restraint,  the  duty  of  gaining  the  mastery  over  our 
passions,  over  our  tempers,  over  our  tongues,  over  our 
indolence,  over  our  impatience,  over  our  prejudices. 
Judgmeyit  to  come,  that  is,  the  certainty  that  for  every- 
thing which  we  do  in  this  life  we  shall,  sooner  or  later, 
have  to  give  an  account,  and  that  we  shall  be  judged 
accordingly  by  One  who  knows  all  our  actions,  whether 
public  or  private,  secret  or  open.  When  the  Apostle 
spoke  of  those  three  things,  "  Felix  trembled  ; " 
had  we  heard  him  speak,  we  should  have  trembled 
also.  Felix  trembled  for  the  moment,  but  he  put  him 
off  to  "  a  more  convenient  season."  If  we  wish  to 
make  our  belief  in  S.  Paul's  conversion  and  the  im- 
portance of  S.  Paul's  doctrine  anything  more  than  a 
mere  name,  we  shall  try  to  bear  away  from  the  road 
on  which  it  took  place  the  thought  of  at  least  these 
three  things,  the  duty  of  justice,  the  duty  of  self- 
restraint,  and  the  certainty  of  a  judgment  to  come. 


SERMON  IX. 

TIE  GIFTS  OP  NATURE. 


SERMON    IX. 
THE    GIFTS    OF    NATURE. 


PREACHED  IN  THE  ENCAMPMENT  UNDER  THE  TEMPLE  OF  BAALBEC, 
ON  MAY  4,  THE   SECOND  SUNDAY  AFTER  EASTER. 


In  them  hath  he  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  which  cometh  forth  as  a 
bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a  giant  to  run  his 
course.  It  goeth  forth  from  the  uttermost  part  of  the  heaven,  and  run- 
neth about  unto  the  end  of  it  again:  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the 
heat  thereof.  —  Psalm  xix.  4-6 

THERE  was  once  a  time,  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  when  it  was  the  strongest  possible  tempta- 
tion to  mankind  to  worship  the  great  objects  of  natm^e, 
but  especially  those  in  heaven,  and  of  these  especially 
the  Sun.  In  these  countries  more  particularly,  where 
the  Sun  is  so  bright,  so  powerful,  so  omnipresent 
throughout  the  year,  the  temptation  was  stronger  than 
anywhere  else.  Wherever  in  the  Old  Testament  we 
hear  of  the  worship  of  Baal,  it  is  the  worship  of  the 
Sun;  and  of  all  the  temples  so  dedicated,  this  is  the 
most  splendid ;  and  the  ancient  city  was  called  from 
this  worship  "Baalbec,"  or  "the  City  of  the  Sun." 
We  know  from  the  Bible,  we  know  also  from  the 
history  of  this  very  Temple,  that  this  worship  was 
corrupted  into  the  most  shameful  sensuality;  so  that, 
to  the  Israelites  first,  and  to  Christians  afterwards,  it 
became  a  duty  to  put  it  down  altogether.     And  this 


88  SERMONS    IN   SYRIA.  [Serm.  IX. 

corruption  is  in  itself  instructive,  as  teaching  us  that 
the  highest  love  of  art  and  the  keenest  appreciation  of 
what  is  beautiful,  if  left  to  itself,  without  some  purer 
and  higher  principles,  may  and  will  degenerate  into 
mere  brutal  self-indulgence  and  cruelty.  But  it  is 
always  better,  if  we  can,  to  see  what  was  the  good 
element  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of  any  character  or 
institution,  —  what  there  was  in  the  thouo;hts  that 
raised  these  solid  foundations  and  these  towering 
columns,  which  we  also  may  imitate  for  ourselves, 
without  falling  into  those  dark  errors  and  sins  with 
which  they  were  once  connected. 

For  this  purpose,  we  could  hardly  find  a  more  fitting 
text  than  the  Psalm  read  in  this  morning's  Service. 

o 

"  In  them  hath  he  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  which 
Cometh  forth  as  a  bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber,  and 
rejoiceth  as  a  giant  to  run  Ms  course.  It  goeth  forth 
from  the  uttermost  part  of  the  heaven,  and  runneth  about 
unto  the  end  of  it  again :  and  there  is  iiothing  hid  from 
the  heat  thereof y  These  words,  so  expressive  of  the 
genial  life-giving  power  of  the  great  Light  of  day,  — 
of  the  glory  of  his  rising,  —  of  the  strength  of  his  rays, 
—  of  the  regularity  of  his  course,  —  of  the  penetrating 
force  of  his  heat,  —  spring  from  a  feeling  common  to 
the  Hebrew  Psalmist  and  to  those  who  raised  this 
heathen  Temple.  But  what  are  the  points  wherein 
they  diverge  from  each  other  ?  —  or  rather  what  were 
the  good  points  in  that  ancient  belief,  which  the  True 
Religion  has  adopted  for  its  own,  and  sifted  from  the 
surrounding  evil  ?  This  Temple  itself  is  connected 
with  the  history  and  traditions  both  of  the  wisest  and 
greatest  thoughts  of  ancient  times,  and  with  the  basest 
and  most  foolish.     Its  earliest  foundations  are  said  to 


Sekm.  IX.]         THE    GIFTS    OF   NATURE.  89 

go  back  to  the  days  of  Solomon,  the  wisest  of  men. 
In  its  latest  times  it  had  for  its  High  Priest  the  most 
infamous  and  effeminate  of  all  the  Roman  Emperors, 
—  the  miserable  Heliogabalus.  Between  the  two  there 
was  at  first  sight  but  httle  in  common.  Little,  indeed, 
there  is  ;  but  it  is  that  little  which  it  is  so  useful  to 
remember.  What  then,  I  repeat,  are  the  points  in 
connection  with  the  reverence  for  the  Sun  and  for 
the  works  of  nature,  which  this  Psalm  brings  before 
us  ? 

I.  There  are  two  points  especially,  —  one  at  the 
beginnino;  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  Psalm.  The 
first  is  a  deep  sense  of  thankfulness  for  those  gifts  of 
Nature,  as  the  heathens  thought  them,  of  God,  as  we 
know  them  to  be.  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God  ;  and  the  firmament  sheiveth  his  handy-work.  Day 
unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  7iight  sheweth 
hnowledge.  There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their 
voice  is  not  heard.  Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the 
earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  tvorhV^  So  the 
Psalmist  spoke ;  and  so  we  may  still  feel.  Those 
glorious  gifts,  which  we  all  enjoy,  but  never  more 
than  when  we  are  travelHng,  —  the  delight  of  a  beau- 
tiful day,  —  the  lights  and  shades  of  sunrise  and  sun- 
set,—  the  warmth  and  brightness  which  succeed  to 
rain  and  storm,  —  the  starlit  and  the  moonlit  night,  — 
the  sight  of  mountains  and  rushing  streams,  —  all  these 
may  still  be  to  us,  as  to  the  Jewish  Psalmist,  a  source 
not  merely  of  most  innocent  pleasure,  but  of  religious 
thankfulness  to  their  Almighty  Giver.  In  the  words 
I  have  just  read,  the  Psalmist  tells  of  the  voice  which 
speaks  in  these  dumb  glories  of  Creation.  That  voice 
is  surely  one  which  speaks  to  us  with  double  force 


90  SERMONS   IN   SYPdA.  [Serm.  IX. 

now.  Now,  if  ever,  we  are  bound  to  lift  up  our  hearts 
in  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  things.  For  five 
weeks  we  have  been  enjoying  His  natural  gifts  of 
beautiful  scenes  and  glorious  weather,  and,  above  all, 
that  inestimable  gift  of  health,  of  which  we  think  so 
little  till  we  lose  it.  One  only  of  our  large  number 
has  been  struck  with  serious  illness,  and  he  has  been 
mercifully  restored  to  us.  Let  us  all  join,  as  we  now 
approach  the  end  of  our  journey,  in  a  humble  and 
hearty  thanksgiving  to  Him  who  has  thus  given  us  all 
things  freely  to  enjoy.  Those  who  hved  in  old  time 
expressed,  as  we  see,  their  gratitude  and  reverence  for 
the  gifts  of  nature  by  this  magnificent  Temple.  Let 
us  express  our  gratitude  and  reverence  in  the  offering 
of  pure  hearts  and  good  lives  to  Him  who  has  thus 
graciously  guided  us  so  nearly  to  the  close  of  our 
pilgrimage. 

II.  And  this  brino;s  me  to  the  second  truth  which 
the  contemplation  of  the  natural  world,  —  of  the  sun 
in  his  strength,  —  of  the  stars  as  they  move  in  the 
heavens,  —  suo-sested  to  the  Psalmist.  He  could  not 
look  at  them  without  thinking  of  that  characteristic  of 
the  works  of  Creation,  which  modern  science  has  more 
and  more  strongly  brought  out;  the  order,  the  regu- 
larity, the  law  of  their  operations.  And  this  Law 
immediately  recalled  his  mind  to  the  highest  example 
of  all  law,  —  the  unchangeable  moral  Law  of  God. 
A  great  modern  philosopher  has  put  the  two  subjects 
together  in  the  same  connection,  probably  without 
thinking  that  he  had  been  anticipated  by  the  Psalmist 
of  old.  "  There  are  two  things  of  which  it  may  be 
said  that,  the  more  we  think  of  them,  the  more  they 
fill  the  soul  with  awe  and  wonder,  —  the  starry  hea- 


Serm.  IX.]  THE   GIFTS   OF  NATURE,  91 

vens  above  and  the  moral  law  within."  This  para- 
mount elevation  of  the  Moral  law  is  what  the  Psalmist, 
according  to  one  of  the  chief  peculiarities  of  the  Divine 
Inspiration  of  the  Bible,  urges  through  the  remainder 
of  the  Psalm.  He  tells  us  how  the  Law  of  God  (the 
revealed  law  of  goodness,  the  natural  law  of  con- 
science,) is  not  only  what  we  are  bound  to  follow  as 
our  duty,  but  is  the  surest  source  both  of  our  wisdom 
and  our  happiness.  Not  only  does  he  speak  of  the 
law  as  "  perfect,  converting  the  soul,"  "  pure,"  "  clean," 
"true  and  righteous,"  —  such,  perhaps,  we  all  acknowl- 
edge it  to  be,  —  but  it  is  more  than  this,  "it  giveth 
wisdom  unto  the  simple,  it  enlightens  the  eyes."  Most 
true.  Many  and  many  a  time  in  life  do  we  see  a  good 
and  honest  conscience  supplying  a  man,  young  or  old, 
with  that  common  sense,  with  that  discernment,  with 
that  calm  and  impartial  judgment,  which  is  often  not 
to  be  got  even  from  the  greatest  abilities,  or  learning, 
or  genius.  "The  fear  of  the  Lord,"  —  much  more 
the  love  of  God,  —  "  is  the  beginning  "  of  many  other 
good  things  ;  but  it  certainly  is  "  the  beginning  of 
wisdom."  Give  us  a  character  on  which  we  can 
thoroughly  depend,  which  we  are  sure  will  not  fail 
us  in  time  of  need,  which  we  know  to  be  based  on 
principle  and  on  the  fear  of  God,  and  it  is  wonderful 
how  many  brilliant  and  popular  and  splendid  qualities 
we  can  safely  and  gladly  dispense  with.  And  not  only 
so,  but  the  Psalmist  tells  us  further  that  the  law  of 
God,  the  submission  to  the  law  of  God,  is  the  source 
of  our  happiness  and  cheerfulness.  He  does  not  only 
mean  that  commonplace  saying,  that  virtue  is  happi- 
ness ;  but  he  means  that  the  very  consciousness  of  a 
Divine  Law  over  us  to  which  we  submit  ourselves  is 


92  SERMONS   IN  SYRIA.  [Serm.  IX. 

the  chief  cause  of  cheerfulness  and  contentment  and 
peace.  The  statutes  of  the  Lord  "  rejoice  the  heart ;  " 
they  are  "  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honey  comb  ^ 
There  are  many  perplexities,  there  are  many  cares, 
there  are  many  little  vexations  in  life ;  what  is  it 
which  in  the  midst  of  these  gives  us  a  serene  constant 
cheerfulness  and  gayety  of  heart  ?  It  is  simply  re- 
membering that  we  have  a  fixed  law  of  duty,  a  fixed 
law  of  our  condition  in  life,  which  we  must  fulfil ; 
unchangeable  laws  which  will  not  endure  to  be  broken, 
which  are  our  support  in  time  of  adversity,  no  less 
surely  than  they  are  our  restraint  in  time  of  prosperity. 
"  Moreover  hy  them^''  he  proceeds,  as  if  speaking  from 
the  fulness  of  his  own  experience,  "  is  thy  servant 
taught^  and  in  keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward. 
Who  can  tell  how  oft  he  offendeth?  0  cleanse  thou  me 
from  my  secret  faults.''^  Yes,  indeed,  this  is  the  prayer 
for  us  all ;  this  is  the  very  use  of  prayer ;  that  He  who 
knows  us  better  than  we  know  ourselves  will  strength- 
en us  against  the  sins  of  which  we  ourselves  are  igno- 
rant.  "  Keep  thy  servant  also  from  presumptuous  sins  ; 
let  them  not  have  dominion  over  me  ;  "  from  those  head- 
strong wilful  faults  that,  if  indulged,  do  indeed  have 
dominion  over  us,  such  as  we  cannot  shake  off.  "  So 
shall  I  be  undefiled  and  innocent  from  the  great  offence.''^ 
This  is  our  reward  in  keeping  from  wanton  presump- 
tuous carelessness  even  in  trifles ;  that  we  are  less  and 
less  likely  to  fall  into  those  great  offences  which  de- 
stroy soul  and  body,  individuals  and  nations,  with  a 
destruction  which,  even  in  this  life,  makes  us  shudder 
and  tremble  at  the  thought  or  the  fear  of  it.  And  so 
he  concludes,  "  Let  the  words  of  my  mouth  and  the 
meditation  of  my  heart  he  alway  acceptable  in  thy  sights 


Serm.  IX.]  THE    GIFTS    OF  NATURE.  93 

0  Lord.,  my  strength  and  wy  Redeemer.''^  Oh,  grant 
that  it  may  be  so  with  us.     I  have  reminded  you,  — 

1  would  also  remind  myself,  —  that  this  is  almost  the 
last  Sunday  on  which  I  shall  have  thus  to  address 
you  in  this  country  and  in  this  manner  of  life.  There 
are  many  other  things  that  I  would  fain  say  now, 
many  other  things  that  I  ought  to  have  said  before ; 
but  I  have  thought  it  best  to  confine  myself  to  the 
reflections  which  this  noble  Psalm,  read  beneath  the 
walls  of  this  noble  Temple,  has  suggested.  '^  O,  may 
the  words  of  our  mouths,"  "  O,  may  the  meditation  of 
our  hearts,"  on  all  that  we  have  seen  and  heard  and 
enjoyed  and  admired,  during  these  five  eventful  weeks, 
be  not  now  only,  but  always  "  acceptable  in  Thy  sight, 
O  Lord,  our  Strength,"  —  the  strength  of  our  strength, 
the  help  of  our  weakness,  —  "  O  Lord,  our  Redeemer," 
—  our  Redeemer  from  all  danger,  from  all  sin,  from  all 
evil,  now  and  hereafter. 


SERMON  X. 

THE  LAST  ENCAMPMENT. 


SERMON    X. 
THE    LAST    ENCAMPMENT. 


PREACHED  IN  THE  ENCAMPMENT  AT  EHDEN,  BENEATH  THE  MOUN- 
TAIN OF  THE  CEDARS,  ON  MAY  11,  THE  THIRD  SUNDAY  AFTER 
EASTER. 


And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  ark  set  forward,  that  Moses  said,  Rise  up, 
Lord,  and  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered ;  and  let  them  that  hate  Thee 
flee  before  Thee.  And  when  it  rested,  he  said,  Return,  0  Lord,  imto 
the  many  thousands  of  Israel.  —  Num.  x.  35,  36. 

OUR  last  Sunday  in  Syria  has  arrived,  and  it  has 
been  enhanced  to  us  this  morning  by  the  sight  of 
those  venerable  trees  which  seemed  to  the  Psalmist 
and  the  Prophets  of  old  one  of  the  chief  glories  and 
wonders  of  the  creation.  Two  main  ideas  were  con- 
veyed to  the  minds  of  those  who  then  saw  them, 
which  we  may  still  bear  away  with  us. 

One  is  tliat  of  their  greatness,  breadth,  solidity, 
vastness.  "  The  righteous,"  says  the  Psalmist,^  "  shall 
flourish  like  a  palm-tree."  That  is  one  part  of  our 
life  ;  to  be  upright,  graceful,  gentle,  like  that  most 
beautiful  of  oriental  trees.  But  there  is  another 
quality  added,  "  He  shall  spread  abroad  like  a  cedar 
in  Libanus."  That  is,  his  character  shall  be  sturdy, 
solid,  broad  ;  he  shall  protect  others,  as  well  as  him- 
self;   he   shall  support  the   branches   of   the  weaker 

1  Psalm  xcii.  12. 


98  SERMONS   IN  SYRIA.  [Seem.  X. 

trees  around  him  ;  he  shall  cover  a  vast  surface  of  the 
earth  with  his  shadow ;  he  shall  grow  and  spread  and 
endure  ;  he  and  his  works  shall  make  the  place  where 
he  was  planted  memorable  for  future  times. 

The  second  feelino;  is  the  value  of  Reverence.  It 
was  reverence  for  these  great  trees  which  caused  them 
to  be  employed  for  the  sacred  service  of  Solomon's 
Temple,  and  which  has  insured  their  preservation  for 
so  long.  It  was  reverence  for  Almighty  God  that 
caused  these  trees,  and  these  only,  to  be  brought 
down  from  this  remote  situation  to  be  employed  for 
the  Temple  of  old.  Reverence,  we  may  be  sure, 
whether  to  God  or  to  the  great  things  which  God  has 
made  in  the  world,  is  one  of  the  qualities  most  needful 
for  every  human  being,  if  he  means  to  pass  through 
life  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  place  which  God  has 
given  him  in  the  world. 

But  the  sight  of  the  Cedars,  and  our  encampment 
here  recall  to  us  that  this  is  the  close  of  a  manner  of 
life  which  in  many  respects  calls  to  mind  that  of  the 
ancient  Israelites,  as  we  read  it  in  the  Lessons  of  this 
and  of  last  Sunday,  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  and  of 
Deuteronomy,  "  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob, 
and  thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel "  so  unlike  our  common 
life,  so  suggestive  of  thoughts  which  can  hardly  come 
to  us  again.  It  brings  us  back,  even  with  all  the 
luxuries  which  surround  us,  to  something  of  the  fresh- 
ness and  rudeness  and  simplicity  of  primitive  life, 
which  it  is  good  for  us  all  to  feel  at  one  time  or  other. 
It  reminds  us,  though  in  a  figure,  of  the  uncertainty 
and  instability  of  human  existence,  so  often  compared 
to  the  pitching  and  striking  of  a  tent.  The  spots  on 
which,  day  after  day  for  the  last  six  weeks,  we  have 


Serm.  X.]  THE   LAST   ENCAMPMENT.  99 

been  encamped  have  again  become  a  desolate  open 
waste,  —  "  the  spirit  of  the  desert  stalks  in,"  and  their 
place  will  be  known  no  more.  How  like  the  way  in 
which  happy  homes  rise  and  sink  and  vanish,  and  are 
lost.  Only  the  great  Rock  or  Tree  of  Life  under 
which  they  have  been  pitched  remains  on  from  genera- 
tion to  generation. 

But  there  is  one  point  in  the  encampment  of  the 
Israelites  which  is  connected  not  only  with  our  present 
mode  of  life,  but  with  our  whole  life,  wherever  we 
may  be,  and  that  is,  the  words  in  which  were  expressed 
what  may  be  called  their  Morning  and  Evening 
Hymn,  their  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer.  The 
Morning  Prayer  was,  "  Let  Crod  arise.,  and  let  His 
enemies  he  scattered.,  and  let  them  that  hate  Him  flee 
before  Him.^''  It  is  very  short,  but  it  contains  much  ; 
and  it  was  used  to  give  fresh  point  to  Jewish  Psalms 
in  later  times,  as,  for  example,  the  68th.  It  is 
the  call  upon  God  to  "  rise,"  as  it  were,  with  them, 
to  go  forth  with  them  through  the  day,  that  "  all  His 
enemies  might  be  scattered,  and  flee  before  Him,"  as 
the  shades  of  night  are  scattered  and  flee  before  the 
rays  of  the  rising  sun.  And  the  Evening  Prayer  is 
like  to  it,  only  shorter  still, — "  Return^  0  Lord^  unto 
the  many  thousands  of  Israel.''''  And  this,  too,  is 
expanded  in  the  80th  Psalm:  "Retm-n,"  come  back, 
our  Great  Protector,  to  each  several  tent  as  it  is 
pitched  again  ;  through  all  "  the  many  thousands  of 
Israel,"  not  to  Judah  only,  not  to  Ephraim  only ;  but 
"before  Ephraim,  Benjamin,  and  Manasseh,"  before 
Judah  and  Simeon,  before  Zebulon  and  Naphtali, 
"  stir  up  Thy  strength,"  and  be  with  them  all  through 
this  night  and  forever. 


100  SERMONS    IN  SYRIA.  [Seem.  X. 

So  they  prayed  at  each  successive  start.  So  we 
also  may  well  pray  at  each  successive  stage  of  our 
journey,  at  the  end  of  one  stage  and  the  beginning  of 
another.  But  there  is  a  yet  more  general  lesson  to  be 
learned  from  these  words,  over  and  above  any  connec- 
tion with  our  present  journey,  applying  in  the  strong- 
est degree  to  the  whole  journey  of  life ;  and  I  have 
reserved  it,  for  this  reason,  to  the  end  of  this  stage  of 
our  travelling,  because  it  really  extends  so  far  more 
widely,  though  we  are  here  more  specially  reminded 
of  it. 

May  I  take  tliis  occasion  of  speaking  of  the  impor- 
tance of  this  one  solemn  ordinance  of  religion,  never 
to  be  forgotten,  wherever  we  are,  —  Morning  and 
Evening  Prayer?  It  is  the  best  means  of  remind- 
ing ourselves  of  the  presence  of  God.  To  place  our- 
selves in  His  hands  before  we  go  forth  on  our  journey, 
on  our  pleasure,  on  our  work,  —  to  commit  ourselves 
again  to  Him  before  we  retire  to  rest ;  this  is  the  best 
security  for  keeping  up  our  faith  and  trust  in  Him  in 
whom  we  all  profess  to  believe,  whom  we  all  expect  to 
meet  after  we  leave  this  world.  It  is  also  the  best 
security  for  our  leading  a  good  and  a  happy  life.  It 
has  been  well  said  twice  over  by  the  most  powerful 
delineator  of  human  character  (with  one  exception) 
ever  produced  by  our  country,^  that  prayer  to  the 
Almighty  Searcher  of  Hearts  is  the  best  check  to 
mourners  against  Providence,  or  to  the  inroad  of 
worldly  passions,  because  nothing  else  brings  before  us 
so  strongly  their  inconsistency  and  unreasonableness. 
We  shall  find  it  twice  as  difficult  to  fall  into  sin,  if  we 

1  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  the  Talisman  (chap,  xxii.),  and  in  Quentin  Dur- 
ward  (chap.  xvii.). 


Seem.  X.]  THE   LAST  ENCAMPMENT.  101 

have  prayed  against  it  that  very  morning,  or  if  we  thank 
God  for  having  kept  it  from  us  that  very  evening.  It 
is  the  best  means  of  gaining  strength  and  refreshment, 
and  courage  and  self-denial  for  the  day.  It  is  the  best 
means  of  gaining  content  and  tranquillity  and  rest  for 
the  night ;  for  it  brings  us,  as  nothing  else  can  bring 
us,  into  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  the  source  of  all 
these  things,  and  who  gives  them  freely  to  those  who 
truly  and  sincerely  ask  for  them.  We  may  "  ask  "  for 
them  without  caring  to  have  them ;  but  that  is  not 
really  "  asking."  We  may  "  seek,"  but  without  lifting 
up  our  little  finger  to  get  what  we  seek ;  but  that  is 
not  really  "  seeking."  We  may  "  knock,"  but  so  feebly 
and  irresolutely  that  no  sound  can  be  heard  within  or 
without;  that  is  not  really  to  "knock."  But '"-ask" 
distinctly  and  with  understanding  ;  "  seek  "  earnestly 
and  deliberately;  "knock"  eagerly  and  pertinaciously; 
and  in  some  way  or  other,  depend  upon  it,  we  shall  be 
answered. 

I  do  not  wish  to  lay  undue  stress  on  any  one  of  the 
springs  of  our  moral  strength.     Like  the  sacred  river 
!  of  the  Holy  Land  which  we  have  just  left,  so  also  the 
:  river  of  our  spiritual    life  has    many    sources,    many 
'  springs,  unrecognized  by  man,  but  recognized  by  God. 
All  manner  of  good  deeds,  good  examples,  religious 
forms    and  institutions,  —  all  these,  in  their  different 
ways,  go  to  swell  the  current  of  our  good  thoughts. 
But  still  to  us,   as  Christians,  —  to  us,  I  would  still 
more   directly  say,  as  Protestant  Englishmen,  —  there 
are  two  sources,  two  springs  more    especially  sacred 
and  important ;  and  these  are  the  fountains  of  Morn- 
ing and  of  Evening  Prayer.     We  have  cast  off  many 
rehmous   forms    to    which    other   nations   and    other 


102  SERMONS   IN  SYRIA.  [Serm.  X. 

Churches  look  for  spiritual  help  ;  and  this  makes  it  the 
more  incumbent  upon  us  to  make  the  most  of  those 
which  remain  to  us.  We  acknowledge  the  duty,  we 
have  learned  it  from  our  earliest  years  ;  the  very  prac- 
tice carries  us  back  to  the  best  days  of  our  childhood. 
Once  lose  the  habit,  and  it  may  be  hard  to  begin 
again ;  but  once  get  a  firm  hold  of  it,  and  you  will  feel 
that  to  have  left  it  off  for  a  single  morning  or  a  single 
evening,  is  like  dropping  one  of  your  daily  employ- 
ments, like  striking  off  one  of  your  supplies  of  daily 
strength,  like  throwing  away  one  of  your  best  oppor- 
tunities of  beino;  what  we  ouo-ht  to  be  and  what  we 
wish  to  be. 

No  one  can  pretend  to  prescribe  what  another's  pray- 
ers should  be ;  that  each  man  must  know  best  for 
himself.  But  the  general  spirit  in  which  they  should 
be  offered  is  well  expressed  in  those  two  great 
Prayers  of  the  Israelite  encampment  of  which  I  have 
spoken.  Whatever  may  be  our  particular  petitions  to 
God  in  the  morning,  we  must  have  this  object  steadily 
before  us ;  that  He  will  rise  and  go  forth  with  us  to 
our  daily  duties  and  enjoyments  ;  that  He  may  be  in 
our  thoughts  throughout  the  day  ;  and  that  His  en- 
emies may  flee  before  Him,  on  every  occasion  when 
they  lurk  for  us.  God's  enemies  are  our  enemies  ; 
and  His  enemies  and  ours  are  those  sins  which  devour 
our  best  dispositions,  and  destroy  our  best  affections, 
and  corrupt  our  best  hopes  and  thoughts. 

And  whatever  be  our  particular  petition  in  the 
evening,  then  also  we  must  have  no  less  before  us  the 
desire  that  God  will  "re^Mrw"to  us,  —  that  He  will 
"  return  "  to  us,  however  much  we  may  have  offended 
Him  during  the  day,  —  that  He  will  forgive  us  our 


Serm.  X.]  THE   LAST  ENCAMPMENT.  103 

many  shortcomings, — that  He  will  "  turn  again,  and 
make  the  light  of  His  countenance  to  shine  upon  us  " 
in  darkness,  in  danger,  in  sorrow,  in  care,  —  that  He 
will  "  return,"  not  only  to  us,  but  "  to  the  many 
thousands  of  Israel," — that  His  blessing  may  come, 
not  only  on  us,  but  on  all  those,  far  or  near,  who  go 
to  rest  this  night  in  our  distant  homes,  as  well  as  in 
the  several  tents  of  our  near  encampment. 

And  I  cannot  forbear  to  recall  parts  at  least  of  the 
Morning  and  the  Evening  Hymns  which  have  been 
left  to  us  by  two  men,  one  long  ago  passed  away,  the 
other  still  livino; ;  both  lono^  to  be  remembered  as 
among  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  English  Church; 
both  of  whose  hymns  ^  are  worthy  to  be  recalled  to 
our  thoughts,  even  on  the  frontier  of  the  Holy  Land,  — 
even  mider  the  shadow  of  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon. 


Morning  Hymn. 

Awake,  my  soul,  and  with  the  sun 
Thy  daily  course  of  duty  run  ; 
Shake  off  dull  sloth,  and  early  rise, 
To  pay  thy  morning  sacrifice. 

Redeem  thy  misspent  moments  past, 
And  live  this  day  as  if  thy  last ; 
Thy  talent  to  improve  take  care ; 
For  the  great  day  thyself  prepare. 

1 1  have  here  joined  together  the  most  universally  applicable  parts  of  the 
Morning  and  Evening  Hymns  of  Bishop  Ken,  and  of  Keble's  Christian 
Year. 


104  SERMONS  IN  SYRIA.  [Serm.  X. 

Let  all  thy  converse  be  sincere, 

Thy  conscience  as  the  noon-day  clear  ; 

For  God's  all-seeing  eye  surveys 

Thy  secret  thoughts,  thy  works  and  ways. 

Direct,  control,  suggest,  this  day, 

All  I  design,  or  do,  or  say ; 

Guard  my  first  springs  of  thought  and  will, 

And  with  Thyself  my  spirit  fill. 


New  mercies,  each  returning  day, 

Hover  around  us  while  we  pray  ; 

New  perils  past,  new  sins  forgiven. 

New  thoughts  of  God,  new  hopes  of  heaven. 

If  in  our  daily  course  our  mind 
Be  set  to  hallow  all  we  find. 
New  treasures  still  of  countless  price 
God  will  provide  for  sacrifice. 

The  trivial  round,  the  common  task, 
Will  furnish  all  we  ought  to  ask  ; 
Room  to  deny  ourselves,  —  a  road 
To  bring  us  daily  nearer  God. 

Only,  0  Lord,  in  Thy  dear  love 
Fit  us  for  perfect  rest  above ; 
And  help  us,  tliis  and  every  day, 
To  live  more  nearly  as  we  pray. 


Serm.  X.]  THE  LAST  ENCAMPMENT.  105 


Evening  Hymn, 

Glory  to  Thee,  my  God,  tliis  night, 
For  all  the  blessings  of  the  lig-ht ; 
Keep  me.  Oh,  keep  me,  King  of  kings, 
Under  Thine  own  Almighty  wings  ! 

Forgive  me.  Lord,  for  Thy  dear  Son, 
The  ill  that  I  this  day  have  done  ; 
That,  with  the  world,  myself,  and  Thee, 
I,  ere  I  sleep,  at  peace  may  be. 

Teach  me  to  live,  that  I  may  dread 
The  grave  as  little  as  my  bed  ; 
Teach  me  to  die,  that  so  I  may 
With  joy  behold  the  judgment-day. 

Oh,  may  my  soul  on  Thee  repose ; 
Thou  with  sweet  sleep  mine  eyelids  close  ; 
Sleep  that  may  me  more  vigorous  make 
To  serve  my  God  when  I  awake. 


Abide  with  me  from  mom  to  eve, 
For  without  Thee  I  cannot  live. 
Abide  with  me  when  night  is  nigh, 
For  without  Thee  I  dare  not  die. 

The  Rulers   of  our  native  land, 
'Twixt  Thee  and  us  ordained  to  stand ; 
Guide  Thou  their  course,  O  Lord,  aright, 
Let  all  do  all  as  in  Thy  sight. 


106  SERMONS  IN  SYRIA.  [Serm.  X. 

If  some  poor  wandering  child  of  Thine 
Have  spurn'd  to-day  the  Voice  Divine  ; 
Now,  Lord,  the  gracious  work  begin, 
Let  liim  no  more  lie  down  in  sin. 

Come  near  and  bless  us  when  we  wake. 
Ere  through  the  world  our  way  we  take ; 
Till,  in  the  ocean  of  Thy  love, 
"We  lose  ourselves  in  Heaven  above. 


SEEMONS    IN    THE    MEDITERKANEAN. 


SERMON  XL 

S.  JOHN   AT   PATMOS  AND  AT   EPHESUS. 


SERMON     XI. 
S.  JOHN   AT   PATMOS   AND  AT  EPHESUS. 


PREACHED  OS  BOARD  H.  M.  S.  "OSBORNE,"  ON  MAY  18,  THE  FOURTH 
SUNDAY  AFTER  EASTER,  ON  THE  DAY  AFTER  VISITING  PATMOS 
AND  EPHESUS. 


When  He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth. 

John  xvi.  13. 


THESE  words  of  our  Saviour,  recorded  by  His  be- 
loved disciple  S.  John,  in  the  Gospel  of  this  day, 
tell  us  that,  when  He  should  be  withdrawn.  His  Spirit 
would  still  guide  His  Apostles  to  teach  to  the  world 
the  truth  which  the  world  most  needed  to  know.  We, 
in  the  course  of  yesterday,  have  been  on  the  track  of 
the  very  Apostle  who  wrote  down  these  words  for  his 
own  support  and  ours.  We  have  seen  at  Patmos  and 
at  Ephesus  the  last  traces  of  S.  John,  with  whom  we 
parted,  as  it  were,  on  the  shores  of  his  own  lake  of 
Tiberias.  Let  us  ask  ourselves  what  are  the  lessons 
which  he  has  left  to  us  ?  What  are  the  truths,  which, 
without  him,  we  should  not  have  known  as  clearly  as 
we  do  now  ?  It  is  well  from  time  to  time  to  ask  this 
question  about  each  part  of  the  Bible.  Let  us  now  ask 
it  with  respect  to  the  writings  of  S.  John.  There  are 
three  portions  of  the  New  Testament  which  have  come 
down  to  us  with  the  authority  of  his  great  name ;  the 


110  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.        [Serm.  XL 

Revelation,  written  at  Patmos,  the  Gospel  and  the 
three  Epistles,  probably  written  at  Ephesus.  Each  of 
these  has  its  own  peculiar  lesson.  Let  us  take  them 
in  order. 

I.  The  Book  of  the  Revelation.  Most  of  this  book 
is  very  difficult,  and  for  many  of  us,  unnecessary  to 
read.  But  there  are  parts  which  are  most  edifying : 
Chapters  i.  ii.  iii.  (the  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches 
amidst  which  we  are  now  moving) ;  Chapters  iv.  v.  vii 
xiv.  xix.  XX.  xxl.  and  xxii.  (the  judgment  of  the  world, 
the  blessedness  of  the  good,  the  misery  of  the  wicked). 
And  there  is  throuo;h  the  whole  of  the  book  this  2;reat 
truth,  that  this  life  and  the  next  life  run  into  each 
other ;  that  what  we  are  in  tlie  life  to  come  depends 
on  what  we  are  in  this  life.  S.  John,  in  the  Rev- 
elation, saw  the  Eternal  World  revealed  in  the 
events  of  this  world.  In  the  trials  of  the  Christian 
Churches  in  these  islands,  and  on  these  shores,  he  saw 
the  mercy  and  severity  of  God  leading  them  on  to 
better  things,  if  only  they  would  obey  the  call.  In  the 
happiness  of  those  who  triumphed  over  temptation  and 
persecution  here,  he  saw  the  happiness  which  awaits 
all  good  men  beyond  the  grave.  In  the  judgments 
which  befell  or  which  were  likely  to  befall  the  wicked 
Roman  Empire  under  which  he  was  living,  he  saw  the 
likeness  of  those  judgments  which  will  sooner  or  later 
fall  upon  oppression,  injustice,  impurity,  everywhere. 
This  is  the  first  portion  of  God's  truth  which  we  learn 
from  S.  John.  Always  in  this  life  bear  about  the 
remembrance  of  the  next.  Every  event,  public  or 
private,  that  befalls  us  may  be  turned,  by  our  own 
care  or  our  own  neglect,  to  our  salvation  or  our  ruin. 
For  every  blessing,   for  every  sorrow,  for  every  re- 


Seem.  XL]     JOHN  AT  PATMOS  AND   EPHESUS.  Ill 

sponsibility  which  we  have  had,  God  will  at  last  call 
us  to  account.  The  more  we  can  be  raised  above  the 
petty  vexations  and  pleasures  of  this  world  into  the 
Eternal  Life  to  come,  the  more  shall  we  be  prepared 
to  enter  into  that  Eternal  Life  whenever  God  shall 
please  to  call  us  hence. 

II.  The  Gospel  of  S.  John.  In  many  respects  this 
Gospel  is  the  same  as  the  other  three.  But,  in  one 
respect  especially,  it  impresses  upon  us  a  truth  which 
in  the  other  Gospels  we  do  not  see  so  clearly.  It  tells 
us  not  only  how  Christ  was  the  Example  of  man,  the 
likeness  of  what  we  ought  to  be  ;  but  it  also  tells  us 
how  He  was  the  Likeness  of  God,  the  expression  to  us 
of  what  the  Mind  of  God  is  in  its  fullest  perfection. 
"  In  the  beffinnino;  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  ^  No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time ;  but  the  only  begotten  Son, 
which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  declared 
Him."  "  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us  (and  we  beheld  His  glory,  the  glory  of  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father),  full  of  grace  and  truth."  ^ 
This  is  what  is  called  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation 
and  of  our  Lord's  Divinity.  But  it  is  no  mere  doc- 
trine of  theology.  It  concerns  us  all.  We  all  wish 
to  learn  what  God  is  like,  —  we  all  find  it  difficult  to 
figure  to  our  minds  any  idea  of  the  invisible,  eternal, 
omnipresent  Father.  The  old  heathens  tried  to  make 
out  His  likeness  in  beautiful  statues,  or  to  see  it  in  the 
works  of  nature.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  get  a 
truer  idea  of  Him,  —  that  there  is  but  One  God,  per- 
fectly just  and  pure.  But  it  is  only  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  we  have  the  fullest  revelation  of  what  He 

1  John  i.  1,  2  John  i.  14, 


112  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.        [Serm.  XL 

is.  Read  in  the  Gospels,  —  read  especially  in  St. 
John's  Gospel,  —  what  Christ  was  ;  fix  His  character 
in  your  minds ;  see  how  He  dealt  with  sin  and  with 
sinners ;  how  he  dealt  with  the  religious  world,  with 
the  irreligious  world ;  observe  His  loving-kindness.  His 
wisdom.  His  firmness,  His  gentleness :  this  is  the  near- 
est approach  that  has  ever  been  made  to  bring  down 
the  mind  of  God  within  the  comprehension  and  the 
devotion  and  the  worship  of  men.  If  you  wish  to 
learn  how  God  regards  your  happiness  and  cheerful- 
ness, read  St.  John's  account  of  the  marriage  feast  at 
Cana.  If  you  wish  to  learn  how  He  looks  upon  your 
sorrows,  your  trials,  your  bereavements,  look  at  the 
14th,  15th,  and  16th  chapters  of  S.  John's  Gospel, 
and  see  how  Christ  spoke  to  His  sorrowing  disciples. 
If  you  wish  to  learn  how  He  regards  your  sins,  look  at 
the  union  of  compassion  and  disgust  with  which  He 
speaks  to  the  sinners  who  come  before  Him,  and  with 
which  we  ourselves  regard  those  who  brought  Him  to 
His  end. 

This  is  the  main  object  of  S.  John's  Gospel.  It 
fixes  our  ideas  about  God.  It  tells  us  that  goodness 
and  justice  and  truth,  such  as  we  see  in  Jesus  Christ, 
are  the  conceptions  we  ought  to  have  of  God.  If  we 
are  like  Christ,  we  are  like  God.  If  Christ  is  pleased 
with  us,  then  God  is  pleased  with  us.  If  we  know 
that  Christ  could  not  be  pleased  with  us,  then  we 
know  that  God  is  not  pleased  with  us. 

III.  The  Epistles  of  S.  John.  —  They  are  three  in 
number,  and  they  contain  many  precepts  and  many 
doctrines.  But  there  is  one  doctrine  and  one  precept 
which  they  contain  more  than  any  other,  and  which, 
according  to  tradition,  he  repeated  over  and  over  again 


Serm.  XL]      JOHN  AT  PATMOS  AND  EPHESUS.  113 

in  the  market-place  of  Epliesus,  when  he  was  so  old 
that  he  could  say  nothing  else,  and  that  is,  "  Little 
children,  love  one  another."  "  This,"  he  said  to  those 
who  complained  of  hearing  nothing  else,  —  "  this  is 
the  substance  of  the  Gospel.  If  you  "  do  this,  I  have 
nothing  further  to  teach  you."  Love  one  another. 
What  he  meant  was,  that  this  is  the  paramount  and 
crowning  duty  of  the  Christian  believer.  He  did  not 
say,  as  many  Christians  have  said  since,  "  Agree  with 
one  another  in  doctrine."  He  did  not  say  as  many 
Christians  have  said,  "  Hate  one  another  and  kill  one 
another."  He  did  not  say,  "  Flatter  one  another, 
indulge  one  another."  He  did  not  even  say,  "  Teach 
one  another,  inform  one  another."  What  he  did  urge 
was,  that  difficult,  but  necessary,  grace,  "  Love  one 
another."  That  is.  Love  one  another  in  spite  of  your 
differences,  in  spite  of  your  faults  ;  do  what  you  can 
to  serve  each  other,  to  lighten  each  other's  trials  and 
inconveniences  and  burdens  :  above  all,  if  we  may 
turn  the  precept  into  its  most  practical  form.  Make  the 
best  of  one  another. 

"  Make  the  best  of  one  another,"  he  said  to  the 
Churches  of  his  own  time,  and  he  would  say  to  the 
Churches  of  our  time,  and  to  those  who,  like  us,  are 
travelling  through  many  Churches  and  many  nations, 
—  "  Make  the  most  of  what  there  is  good."  It  is  very 
easy  to  do  the  reverse,  and  to  make  the  most  of  what 
there  is  evil,  absurd,  erroneous.  By  so  doing  we  shall 
have  no  difficulty  in  rendering  bitterness  more  bitter, 
and  estrangements  between  nations  and  nations  and 
Christians  and  Christians  more  wide,  and  hatreds  and 
strifes  more  abundant,  and  errors  more  extreme.  But 
we  shall  not  be  falfilling  the  command  of  Christ,  nor 


114  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.       [Serm.  XL 

of  His  beloved  disciple.  No  doubt,  justice  and  truth 
require  that  we  should  express  our  abhorrence  of  folly 
and  error  and  sin.  But  still,  by  making  the  most  of 
what  there  is  good,  that  which  is  bad  will  be  most 
likely  to  disappear.  Nothing  drives  out  darkness  so 
much  as  lio;ht ;  nothino;  overcomes  evil  so  much  as 
good.  No  weapon  of  controversy  or  argument  or 
opposition  is  so  effectual  as  when  our  adversary  sees 
that  we  see  and  admire  what  there  is  in  him  that  is 
good  and  just  and  right  and  true. 

"  Make  the  best  of  one  another."  So  also  he  said 
to  the  old  and  middle-aged  and  young  who  crowded 
round  him  as  he  was  sinking  into  his  grave  under  the 
experience  of  a  hundred  eventful  years ;  and  so  also 
he  still  says  to  us  as  individuals,  in  all  the  relations  of 
life.  Here  again  we  may,  if  we  choose,  make  the 
worst  of  one  another.  Every  one  has  his  weak  point ; 
every  one  has  his  faults ;  we  may  make  the  worst  of 
these;  we  may  fix  our  attention  constantly  upon  these. 
It  is  a  very  easy  task ;  and  by  so  doing  we  shall  make 
the  burden  of  life  unendurable,  and  turn  friends  into 
enemies,  and  provoke  strife,  hatred,  heart-burnings, 
wherever  we  go,  and  cut  off  from  ourselves  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  happiness  and  goodness  and  useful- 
ness. But  we  may  also  make  the  best  of  one  another. 
We  may  forgive,  even  as  we  hope  to  be  forgiven. 
We  may  put  ourselves  in  the  place  of  others,  and  ask 
what  we  should  wish  to  be  done  to  us,  and  thought  of 
us,  were  we  in  their  place.  By  fixing  our  attention  on 
their  good  qualities,  we  shall  rise  to  their  level  as 
surely  as,  by  fixing  our  attention  on  their  bad  qualities, 
we  shall  sink  below  their  level.  By  loving  whatever 
is  lovable  in  those  around  us,  love  will  flow  back  from 


Serm.  XL]     JOHN  AT  PATH  OS  AND  EPHESUS.  115 

them  to  us,  and  life  will  become  a  pleasure  instead  of 
a  pain  ;  and  earth  will  become  like  Heaven  ;  and  we, 
if  God  so  please,  shall  become  not  unworthy  followers 
of  Him  whose  name  is  Love,  and  of  St.  John  his 
beloved  disciple. 


SEEMON    XII. 

S.  PAUL  IN  EUEOPE. 


SERMON    XII. 
S.  PAUL  IN  EUROPE. 


PREACHED  ON  BOARD  H.  M.  S.  "  OSBORNE,"  JUNE  1,  OFF  THE  COAST  OF 
GREECE  ON  THE  WAY  FROM  ATHENS  TO  MALTA. 


Last  of  all,  he  was  seen  of  me  also  ,  ,  .  .  that  am  not  meet  to  be  called  an 

Apostle But  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am  ....  I  labored 

more  abundantly  than  they  all;  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  which 
was  with  me.  —  1  CoR.  xv.  8,  9,  10. 

"XTTHEN  I  last  addressed  you,  we  had  just  trodden 
'  '  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Apostle  S.  John.  We 
have  since  entered  on  the  sphere  of  another  Apostle, 
the  last  whose  history  we  shall  be  able  to  trace  in  this 
journey,  —  the  Apostle  S.  Paul.  He  —  unhke  most 
of  the  Apostles,  who  clung  to  their  native  East  — 
crossed  from  Asia  to  Europe  ;  and  for  many  years  of 
his  life,  these  seas,  these  islands,  these  shores  were  full 
of  his  deeds  and  of  his  writings.  He  stood  and  spoke 
on  the  rocky  steps  of  Mars'  Hill,  at  Athens.  His 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthian  Church  were  addressed  in 
fact  to  the  whole  of  Greece,  of  which  Corinth  then, 
as  Athens  now,  was  the  capital.  He  traversed  the 
Mediterranean  to  and  fro ;  four  times  on  these  waters 
he  suffered  shipwreck,  —  a  night  and  a  day  on  these 
waves  he  was  in  the  deep.  On  our  own  island  of 
Malta  he  escaped  with  his  life.     Through  the  preach- 


120  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.       [Serm.  XII. 

ing  of  his  disciples,  the  Gospel  first  reached  to  our 
shores.  He  was  the  Aj^ostle  of  the  Gentiles,  but 
above  all,  the  Apostle  of  Greece  and  of  Europe.  Let 
us  ask,  as  in  the  case  of  S.  John,  what  are  the  practi- 
cal lessons  we  may  learn  from  his  life. 

I  will  select  four. 

I.  He  was,  first,  the  Apostle,  as  I  have  said,  of  the 
Gentiles,  that  is,  he  urged  that  into  the  fold  of  the 
Jewish  Church  should  be  received  those  heathen 
nations  who  before  had  been  kept  out  of  it.  It  was 
the  widest  extension  of  the  True  Religion  that  had 
ever  been  made,  or  that  has  ever  been  made.  In 
order  to  effect  it,  he  had  to  struggle  against  the  most 
obstinate  prejudice  in  his  own  heart  and  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen  that  we  can  possibly  imagine.  He 
was  thus  the  great  teacher  and  the  great  example  of 
what  in  one  word  we  call  Toleration.  Toleration  of 
the  infirmities,  of  the  errors,  of  the  differences  of 
others,  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  all  human  virtues. 
Intolerance  is  one  of  the  most  common  and  easy  of 
all  human  vices.  But  S.  Paul  has  taught  us  that  in 
order  to  be  religious  we  need  not  be  intolerant ;  he 
has  also  taught  us  in  what  toleration  consists.  Read 
his  speech  to  the  Athenians,  in  the  17th  chapter  of 
the  Acts,  read  the  14th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  and  the  8th  of  the  1st  to  the  Corinthians,  and 
you  will  see  that  the  way  in  which  he  contrived  to 
attain  this  great  Christian  grace  was  by  trying  to  be 
as  considerate  to  the  scruples  and  the  weaknesses  of 
others  as  if  they  were  his  own  ;  by  acknowledging 
the  value  of  a  good  motive  and  a  good  intention, 
even  when  the  act  itself  was  mistaken  ;  by  recognizing 
that  within  the  same  Christian  community  wide  differ- 


Seem.  XIL]  S.  PAUL  IN  EUROPE.  121 

ences  might  exist  without  breaking  the  bond  of 
Christian  fellowship.  It  is  In  this  respect  that  the 
Church  of  England,  to  which  we  belong,  Is  so  singu- 
larly happy  amongst  the  Churches  of  the  world.  It 
is  in  this  sense  the  most  Protestant  and  also  the  most 
Christian  Church  In  the  world,  because  It  Is  the  most 
comprehensive,  and  because  In  this  respect  It  walks 
and  bids  us  walk  In  the  footsteps  of  our  Lord's  great 
Apostle,  S.  Paul. 

II.  This  Is  one  lesson  of  S.  Paul's  life,  both  to  Jews 
and  Gentiles.  Another  is  his  constant  protest  against 
the  peculiar  sins  of  the  heathen  world.  Because  he 
was  indulgent  to  their  weaknesses,  he  was  not  there- 
fore indulgent  to  their  sins. 

There  were  many  deeply-rooted  evils  against  which 
he  lifted  up  his  voice.  I  will  mention  one,  namely, 
that  gross  sensual  wickedness  which  was  so  common 
in  heathen  times,  and  which  still  in  our  times  tempts 
thousands  to  their  ruin.  I  know  —  we  all  know  — 
how  difficult  It  is  to  speak  of  this ;  and  yet  the  thought 
that  S.  Paul  has  spoken  of  it  as  he  has,  may  encourage 
me  to  say,  and  induce  you  to  hear,  a  few  words  on 
what  so  deeply  concerns  us  all.  Perhaps  of  all  the 
forms  of  excuse  and  temptation  which  this  sin  assumes, 
the  most  common,  the  most  persuasive,  is  this :  that 
we  are  but  doing  as  others  do ;  and  that  what  others 
do  we  may  do.  I  will  not  now  ask  how  far  the  fact 
is  so.  I  know  not  —  none  of  us  know  —  how  much 
better  or  how  much  worse  than  they  seem  our  fellow- 
men  may  be.  But  let  every  one  sincerely  ask  himself 
whether  the  conduct  of  others  really  makes  better 
what  he  knows  in  itself  to  be  wrono;  and  wicked  and 
hatefal  ?     Though  thousands  on  thousands  fall  away, 


122  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.        [Sekm.  XII. 

S.  Paul's  words  of  strong  condemnation,  the  truth  of 
which  we  acknowledge  in  our  own  consciences,  re- 
mains the  same. 

A  bad  temper  is  not  more  excusable,  or  less  offen- 
sive, because  others  have  bad  tempers  as  well  as  we. 
A  cruel  unfeeling  act  is  not  less  cruel  or  unfeeling, 
because  others,  under  strong  temptation,  have  been 
cruel  and  unfeeling.  The  old  heathen  maxim,  "  Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die,"  was  not  less 
base  and  contemptible  because  thousands  acted  upon  it. 
Neither  is  the  impure  word  or  the  unclean  act  less 
impure,  or  less  selfish,  or  less  loathsome,  or  less  widely 
mischievous,  because  it  is  shared  by  numbers  aromid 
us. 

And  on  the  other  hand,  we  know  not  the  wide 
effects  for  good,  stretching  far  beyond  ourselves,  from 
the  firm  and  silent  resistance  to  this  great  and  sore 
temptation  even  by  any  one  single  person.  We  cannot 
measure  the  strength  and  peace  and  hope  and  joy 
which  is  brought  to  many  and  many  a  troubled  soul 
by  the  thought  of  any  pure  and  blameless  youth,  even 
in  the  humblest  station  of  life,  struggling  manfully  and 
successfully  against  the  evil  influences  which  would 
lead  him  astray  from  the  path  of  innocence.  Such 
characters  are  indeed  the  salt  of  the  world,  which  alone 
save  it  from  sinking  into  utter  recklessness  and  univer- 
sal corruption.  May  God  bless  them,  whoever  and 
wherever  they  be,  for  the  inestimable  blessing  which 
they  unconsciously,  but  most  surely,  confer  on  the 
world  in  which  their  lot  is  cast. 

III.  A  third  lesson  of  S.  Paul's  life  and  doctrine  is 
his  deep  humility.  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what 
I  am."     ''  I  am  the  least  of  the  Apostles,  that  am  not 


SERM.XII.]  S.  PAUL  IN  EUROPE.  123 

worthy  to  be  called  an  Apostle."  It  was  not  that  he 
did  not  know  how  great  were  his  gifts ;  but  still  he 
had  behind  and  within  a  deep-seated  feeling  of  his 
own  shortcomings  in  times  past  and  present,-  of  his 
own  profound  unworthiness  before  God,  of  his  constant 
dependence  on  the  help  of  others,  and,  above  all,  on 
the  help  of  God.  This  was  a  feeling  which  the  Gentile 
world  little  appreciated,  but  it  is  a  feeling  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  all  true  Christian  excellence.  To  be 
humble ;  to  be  willing  to  hear  of  our  faults,  and  to 
have  them  corrected ;  to  know  that  we  have  that  with- 
in us  which  needs  to  be  constantly  forgiven ;  to  feel 
that  we  are  always  needing  the  help  of  One  greater 
than  ourselves,  to  lead  us  right ;  not  merely  to  say  that 
we  are  miserable  sinners,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
but  to  acknowledge  some  special  miserable  sin  of  which 
we  have  been  guilty  on  one  special  year  and  day,  and 
in  which  we  feel  that  we  are  guilty  as  others  are  not 
guilty;  to  be  on  the  watch  for  every  opportunity  of 
improvement  and  growth  in  goodness  and  wisdom,  — 
this  is  indeed  the  first  begmning  of  a  holy  and  a  happy 
life,  the  first  requisite  to  be  truly  followers  of  S.  Paul. 

IV.  Fourthly  and  lastly,  there  is  the  Apostle's  un- 
tiring, unconquerable  energy.  This  is  what  makes 
him  so  exactly  suited  to  be  the  Apostle  of  Europe,  — 
which  makes  us  feel  that  when  he  passed  out  of  the 
indolence  and  inactivity  of  Asia  into  this  Western 
world  of  action  and  industry  and  progress,  he  was  for 
the  first  time,  as  it  were,  in  his  own  element.  He 
"labored  more  ahundaiitly^''  than  they  all.  Backwards 
and  forwards  across  these  seas,  —  through  danger, 
through  hardship,  through  heat  and  cold,  through 
misunderstanding    and    persecution,    in    tumults    and 


124  IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.      [Serm.  xn. 

labors,  in  solitude  and  desertion,  in  spite  of  sickness 
and  constant  weakness,  he  never  flagged;  he  left  no 
stone  unturned  to  do  the  work  which  was  set  before 
him.  And  what  was  that  work  ?  In  the  scenes  and 
the  recollections  of  these  countries  which  for  some  of 
us  have  so  vast  an  interest,  he  had  little  or  none. 
Great  as  those  recollections  are,  his  own  recollections 
were  greater  still.  His  work  was  to  labor  in  his 
Master's  cause.  It  was  to  do  good  to  his  fellow- 
creatures  ;  it  was  to  render  them  better  and  wiser, 
to  bring  them  more  near  to  God,  and  make  them 
more  like  to  Christ.  My  brethren,  although  we  are 
not  Apostles,  yet  His  work  is  really  ours,  and  His 
energy  ought  in  some  measure  to  be  ours  also.  To 
us,  as  to  Him,  these  visits  to  the  famous  and  beautiful 
places  of  the  earth  are,  after  all,  but  the  play  and  the 
ornament  of  life.  Whether  we  now  care  for  these 
things  much  or  little,  they  are  not  on  earth  our  main 
business.  Our  main  business  is  in  our  own  professions, 
our  own  homes,  —  our  European  life,  our  English  life, 
■ — our  own  special  vocation,  whatever  it  be,  whether 
on  sea  or  on  land ;  above  all,  in  that  vocation  which  is 
common  to  all  of  us,  —  the  vocation  of  Christians,  of 
being  good  ourselves  and  doing  good  to  others.  These 
are  interests  which  demand  our  utmost  energy  always. 
These  are  interests  which  never  fail.  This  is  an  en- 
ergy wliich  is  required  the  more  imperatively  as  we 
approach  our  homes,  as  we  return  to  our  settled  mode 
of  life,  as  we  look  backward  to  all  that  we  there  have 
left  undone  hitherto,  as  we  look  forward  to  all  that 
there  remains  to  be  done  in  the  time  to  come.  We 
are  not  indolent  Asiatics,  but  active  Englishmen ;  we 
are  not  Mussulmans,  who  place  their  chief  duty  in 


Serm.  XII.]  S.  PAUL  IN  EUROPE.  125 

passive  resignation,  but  Christians,  who  know  that  the 
chief  duty  of  men  is  the  active  service  of  God  and 
mankind  ;  we  have  for  our  example,  not  the  repose  of 
heathen  philosophers,  but  the  untmng  devotion  and 
exertion  of  the  Christian  Apostle.  In  his  name,  and 
in  his  Master's  name,  let  us  gird  ourselves  up  to  be 
worthy  of  our  high  calling,  —  ^'always  abounding'^  in 
the  worJc^^^  whatever  it  be,  the  constant,  unfailing  work 
which  God  has  given  us  to  do,  '■'•  knowing  that  our 
labor^^  however  toilsome,  however  irksome,  however 
thankless,  on  earth,  shall  not  be  '-'-in  vain^^  and  is  not 
"  in  vain  "  in  the  sight  of  Christ  om'  Lord. 

1  1  Cor.  XV.  58. 


SERMON   Xni. 

THE  GIFT  OF  THE  SPIEIT. 

(WHITSUNDAY.) 


SERMON    XIII. 
THE    GIFT    OF    THE    SPIRIT. 


PREACHED  ON  BOARD  H.  M.  S.  '=  OSBORNE,"  ON  WHITSUNDAY,  JUNE  8, 
BETWEEN  MALTA  AND  MARSEILLES. 


The  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in 
M}'  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things.  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  My 
peace  I  give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you. 

John  xiv.  26,  27. 


THIS  is  the  great  Festival  of  Whitsunday.  It  is 
the  Festival  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  tells  us  of  the 
last  and  parting  gift  of  our  Lord  to  His  apostles,  to  aU 
generations  of  mankind  forever.  What  is  this  gift  ? 
What  do  we  learn  from  the  way  in  which  it  is  spoken 
of  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  services  of  this  day  ?  I  will 
confine  myself  to  what  the  word  itself  suggests.  This 
is  a  very  useful  and  easy  mode  of  studying  the  depths 
of  the  wisdom  of  the  Bible.  The  words,  the  names 
which  it  uses  to  describe  the  great  truths  which  it  has 
to  teach,  are  so  full  of  meaning,  that  we  need  but 
draw  out  that  meaning,  and  we  shall  find  what  we 
want. 

1.  The  Spirit  of  Christ.  —  This  is  what  we  have  to 
ask  and  to  imitate  ;  not  the  letter,  not  the  mere  out- 
ward likeness,  but  the  spirit^  the  intention  of  His 
actions,  is  what  He  wishes  to  give  us,  and  what  we 
must    earnestly   seek   for.      Though    He   was   poor, 


130  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.     [Serm.XIII. 

whereas  we  may  be  rich ;  though  He  went  about 
teaching,  whereas  we  perhaps  never  teach  at  all ; 
though  He  lived  and  died  in  one  small  country  ages 
ago,  whilst  we  have  traversed  many  countries,  and 
live  in  times  wholly  different,  yet  we  still  may  be  like 
Him ;  we  still  may  be  in  communion  with  Him, 
because  what  we  aim  at  is  the  mind,  the  soul,  the 
Spirit  which  breathed  through  all  His  life,  and  which 
can  be  shared  in  a  measure  by  every  one  of  us.  This 
is  the  best  use  of  this  sense  of  the  word ;  but  it  is 
useful  as  a  guide  of  life  generally.  To  this  end  must 
we  always  distinguish  between  the  spirit  and  the  letter, 
and  see  how  the  spirit  is  always  more  important  than 
the  letter.  Many  difficulties  in  the  Bible,  which 
perplex  us  when  we  look  only  at  the  mere  letter, 
vanish  away  when  we  look  at  the  general  spirit. 
Many  stumbling-blocks  which  meet  us  in  particular 
portions  of  the  services  of  the  Church,  or  in  the 
institutions  of  our  country,  are  at  once  surmounted 
when  we  think  of  the  spirit  of  the  whole.  Many 
dispensations  of  Providence,  which  seem  grievous  to 
be  borne,  become  light  when,  from  the  mere  letter 
and  fact  which  kill,  we  can  feel  through  them  the 
gracious  Spirit  that  gives  life  and  strength  and  healing 
to  what  in  itself  is  dark  and  mournful.  And  in  our 
own  hearts,  when  we  pray  for  the  Spirit  of  Christ  to 
enlighten  us,  what  we  pray  for  is  that  He  will  enlighten 
and  purify  not  only  our  outward  acts,  but  the  inner- 
most springs  of  our  inmost  mind  and  conscience  and 
spirit.  Through  our  spirits  only  can  God  now  speak 
to  us  as  a  Spirit.  It  is  to  our  spiritual  life  that  we 
must  pay  heed,  if  we  wish  not  to  be  cut  off  from  Him. 
2.  Again,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  that  which  enlivens. 


Serm.  XIIL]    the    gift   of   THE    SPIRIT  131 

strengthens,  invigorates.  —  We  speak,  and  we  speak 
properly,  of  a  "  man  of  spirit,"  of  a  "  hoy  of  spirit," 
of  a  "  high,  bold,  gallant  spirit."  This  is  another 
sense  of  the  word  "  Spirit"  in  the  Bible.  It  signifies 
"breath"  or  "wind."  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,"  ..."  so 
is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  As  is  the  fresh 
breeze  to  a  ship  becalmed  at  sea,  filling  her  sails,  and 
driving  her  onwards  in  spite  of  herself,  so  is  the  Spirit 
of  God  and  of  Christ  to  the  torpid,  languid  human 
soul,  which  will  not  be  roused  except  by  a  power 
greater  and  higlier  than  itself.  As  is  the  fresh  air  to 
a  close  infected  room,  so  is  the  keen,  invigorating 
breeze  from  the  throne  of  God,  wliich  pours  into  the 
narrow  chamber  of  the  heart,  stuffed  with  the  preju- 
dices and  passions  and  fancies  of  our  own  little  circle, 
of  our  own  little  thoughts,  whose  doors  have  never 
been  opened  to  new  ideas  or  bright  feelings,  whose 
windows  have  been  closed  against  all  wider  and  higher 
views. 

Such  was  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Lord  "  which  "  came  " 
on  the  heroes  and  saints  of  the  old  dispensation,  — 
Gideon,  Samson,  and  David,  —  and  filled  them  with 
strength  for  the  battle.  Such  was  the  "  rushing  mighty 
wind,"  in  the  Christian  Church,  which,  from  the  day 
of  Pentecost  onwards,  swept  through  the  dead  dry 
bones  of  the  ancient  world,  and  roused  them  to  life. 
Such  was  the  spirit  of  those  old  Christian  knights,  the 
scene  of  whose  deeds  we  have  lately  visited,  who  made 
it  the  business  of  their  lives  to  defend  with  a  soldier's 
courage  and  fidelity  the  weak,  the  sufiering,  and  the 
oppressed  everywhere.  Such,  above  all,  was  the 
soldier-like  spirit  of  Him  who  was  the  Captain  of  our 


132  IN  THE   MEDITERRANEAN.       [Serm.  XIII. 

salvation,  who  fought  to  the  last  with  unabated,  un- 
shrinking courage  His  battle,  our  battle,  the  battle  of 
the  whole  world,  against  sin  and  folly  and  death.  Oh 
for  one  spark  of  this  soldier-like  spirit  in  the  weak  and 
wavering  moments  of  our  daily  course  !  Oh  for  one 
breath  of  this  divine  atmosphere  of  the  Spirit  to  brace 
our  nerves,  and  enliven  our  sluggish,  sinking  hearts, 
and  chase  away  the  sultry  oppression  that  weighs  us 
down  in  tlie  great  struggles  of  life  !  Oh  for  one  blast 
of  that  rushing  mighty  wind,  to  drive  us  with  irresisti- 
ble force  over  wave  after  wave  of  this  troublesome 
world,  till  we  come  to  the  haven  where  we  would  be ! 
The  Spirit  of  God  and  of  Christ  is  life  and  strength 
and  health  and  energy  ;  where  these  are  not,  there  only 
in  a  very  feeble  degree  is  the  breath  of  God's  Spirit. 

3.  The  "  Spirit  of  God"  in  the  Bible  is  often  used 
in  another  sense,  which  perhaps  we  do  not  enough 
connect  with  it,  —  that  sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  the 
Confirmation  Service,  and  in  the  11th  chapter  just 
read  from  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  —  "  the  Spirit  of  wisdom 
and  understanding  and  knowledge ; "  and  so  in  the 
Collect  of  this  day,  we  pray  that  "  we  may,  through 
the  Spirit,  have  a  right  judgment  in  all  things  ;  "  and 
so  our  Lord  speaks  of  "  the  Spirit  of  Truths  which 
shall  lead  His  followers  into  all  truth.'''  This  is  a  most 
important  characteristic  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  we 
ought  to  ask  from  God,  because  often  wisdom  and 
religion  have  been  parted  from  each  other,  and  relig- 
ious zeal  and  common  sense  have  regarded  each  other 
with  suspicion.  But,  in  fact,  they  are  most  nearly 
allied.  Common  sense,  discretion,  judgment,  are  high 
Christian  graces.  They  are  God's  gifts,  to  enable  us 
to  do  the  work  which  is  set  before  us.     To  be  able  to 


Serm.  XIII.J    the    gift   OF    THE   SPIRIT.  133 

see  the  truth,  and  to  discern  the  false  from  the  true, 
and  to  wish  to  know  the  truth,  this  is  a  gift  which  is 
needed  by  the  highest  philosopher;  but  it  is  needed 
also  by  the  humblest  man  or  youth  that  has  to  make 
his  way  in  life,  and  to  serve  his  God  and  his  country 
faithfully  and  truly.  And  of  all  wisdom,  of  all  judgment, 
the  best  source  is  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  Wickedness  is 
in  itself  folly,  —  sheer,  miserable  folly.  Goodness  is  in 
itself  wisdom,  because  it  gives  us  a  straightforward, 
independent,  fearless  judgment,  when  many  abler  or 
more  learned  men,  as  the  world  thinks  them,  are  led 
astray  by  interest,  or  selfishness,  or  jealousy,  or  sus- 
picion. Christ,  who  is  "  our  righteousness  and  Sancti- 
fication  and  Redemption,"  is  also,  as  the  Apostle  tells 
Tis,  and  as  we  see  from  His  own  words,  wliich  he  spake 
as  never  man  spake,  "  our  Wisdom."  Let  us  seek  His 
own  Spirit  from  Him,  and  that  which  He  had  without 
measure  He  will,  in  some  measure,  if  we  persevere, 
freely  give  to  the  humblest  of  His  followers. 

4.  Finally,  let  us  remember  that  this  great  gift  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  was  Christ's  last  gift  and  consolation 
to  His  disciples  when  he  parted  from  them.  He  said 
(using  the  common  word  for  salutation  or  farewell  in 
his  time  and  country),  ^^  Peace  I  leave  with  you;" 
but  He  added,  "  My  Peace  I  give  unto  you  ;  not  as 
the  world  giveth,  give  Junto  you.''^  The  peace  which 
He  gave  was  not  the  superficial  congratulation  and 
courtesy  of  worldly  life,  but  the  deep,  solid  peace 
which  can  only  come  from  the  Holy,  the  Pure,  and 
the  Strong,  dwelhng  in  our  spirits,  and  giving  to  us 
His  own  Holiness  and  Purity  and  Strength. 

Oh,  my  brethren,  as  we  part  to-day,  many  of  us  not 
to   meet    again   as    heretofore   for   another   Sunday's 


134  m   THE   MEDITERRANEAN.       [Serm.  XIII. 

worship,  may  this  be  our  parting  farewell  and  wish  one 
for  another,  —  may  we  know  what  it  is  to  have  for  our 
Comforter,  in  our  hearts,  and  in  the  hearts  of  our 
friends  not  the  peace,  the  friendship,  the  spirit  of  the 
world,  but  the  peace,  the  friendship,  the  Spirit  which 
Christ  alone  can  give.  There  is  the  hollow  peace, 
the  treacherous  friendship,  the  shifting  favor,  which 
the  world  gives,  and  which  the  world,  as  it  knows 
full  well,  can  take  away.  But  there  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  firm  peace  of  our  own  consciences,  which 
we  cannot  lose  but  through  our  own  fault.  There  is 
the  faithful  and  steadfast  friendship,  which  can  only 
be  broken  off  by  our  own  folly.  There  is  the  all- 
sufficient,  all-protecting  grace  of  Christ,  who  will  con- 
tinue to  help  us  so  long  as  we  help  ourselves,  and  will 
never  leave  us  nor  forsake  us,  unless  we  deliberately 
leave  and  forsake  Him.  O  may  we  all  of  us,  as  time 
rolls  on,  have  "  the  right  judgment "  to  see  and  to 
choose  the  better  part,  which  neither  life,  nor  death, 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  can  take  from 
us.  As  difficulties  unforeseen  close  round  us,  —  as 
temptations  multiply,  —  as  wrong  constructions  are  put 
on  our  actions,  —  as  friends  fall  away,  or  familiar 
places  become  vacant,  —  as  losses  and  bereavements 
come  thick  upon  us,  —  may  we  have  the  grace  to 
know  and  to  feel  the  immeasurable  difference  between 
the  false  and  miserable  spirit  of  this  hard  and  selfish 
world,  and  the  loving,  discriminating,  generous,  holy 
Spirit,  of  Christ  our  merciful  Saviour,  and  of  His 
faithful  servants ! 


SERMON   XIV. 

THE  BREADTH  OF  GOD'S  COIIANDIENT. 


[This  Sermon,  preached  on  the  day  following  the  return  of  His  Royal 
Highness  to  England,  I  have  ventured  to  print  in  this  place,  as  form- 
ing the  natural  conclusion  of  the  Series.] 


SERMON    XIV. 
THE  BREADTH  OF  GOD'S  COMMANDMENT. 


PREACHED    IN  THE  PRIVATE  CHAPEL  OF  WINDSOR  CASTLE,   ON 
TRINITY  SUNDAY,  JUNE  15. 


I  see  that  all  things  come  to  an  end,  but  thy  commandment  is  exceeding 
broad.  —  Psalm  cxix.  96. 

THE  Psalmist  throughout  the  whole  of  this  Psalm 
labors,  in  every  variety  of  form,  to  express  his 
conviction  of  the  value,  —  the  authority,  —  the  excel- 
lence, of  what  is  called  by  the  various  terms  of  "  the 
law, "  —  ''  the  commandment,"  —  "  the  statutes,"  — 
"the  testimonies  of  God."  What  was  the  precise  idea 
intended  to  be  conveyed  by  these  different  names  it  is 
difficult  for  us  to  determine  at  this  distance  of  time, 
and  in  the  absence  of  any  direct  explanation  from  the 
Psalmist  himself;  but,  from  the  general  tenor  of  the 
Psalm,  we  cannot  be  mistaken  in  supposing  that  they 
cover,  at  any  rate,  two  leading  thoughts  :  —  first,  and 
chiefly,  the  moral  Law  of  duty;  and,  secondly,  and 
as  connected  with  and  based  upon  this,  the  Revelation 
or  Dispensation  of  God.  The  two  are,  in  fact,  in  his 
mind,  inseparable,  as  we  shall  see,  if  we  follow,  verse 
by  verse,  the  various  expressions  of  rapture,  indigna- 
tion, contrition,  awe,  reverence,  and  love  which  the 
various  phases  of  the  Law  excite  in  his  mind. 


138  THE   END.  [Serm.  XIV. 

Amongst  all  the  characteristics  which  he  thus  gives, 
one  of  the  most  striking  is  that  in  the  text.  "  /  see 
that  all  things  come  to  an  end^^  —  I  see  that  every- 
thmg  else  has  an  abrupt  termination,  a  limitation,  a 
point  beyond  which  you  cannot  push  or  apply  it ;  a 
narrowness,  a  httleness,  an  insufficiency,  —  ''  hut  Thy 
commandment  is  exceeding  broads  It  reaches  as  far 
as  we  can  see  backwards  and  forwards  ;  it  includes 
all  besides,  it  outlives  all  besides,  it  comprehends  all 
besides. 

There  is  an  ancient  tradition,  that  Abraham,  as  he 
stood  on  the  hills  above  Damascus,  was  converted  to 
the  true  faith  in  one  God,  from  the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  by  observing  that  the  stars,  the  moon, 
and  the  sun,  however  bright  and  glorious,  at  last  sank, 
and  were  succeeded  by  others.  "  I  like  not,"  he  said, 
"  those  that  set ;  "  and  so  turned  to  the  one  unchangea- 
ble Lord  and  Maker  of  all.  This,  but  in  a  higher  and 
more  precise  form,  is  the  force  of  the  Psalmist's  argu- 
ment. He  prefers,  —  and  we  ought  to  prefer,  —  the 
Commandment,  the  Revelation,  of  God,  not  only  be- 
cause it  lasts  longer  than  anything  else,  but  because 
it  includes  and  comprehends  and  absorbs  into  itself  all 
that  there  is  good  in  everything  else. 

It  is  exactly  this  aspect  of  Divine  Revelation  which 
is  broucrht  before  us  in  the  ancient  doctrine  of  the 
Church  which  we  this  day  commemorate.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  when  rightly  understood, 
impresses  upon  us,  beyond  all  other  doctrines,  the 
Infinity,  the  Immensity  of  the  Godhead,  of  Revelation, 
of  Truth,  of  God's  Word,  and  of  God's  Command- 
ment. Its  very  claim  to  be  considered  as  the  crown- 
ing doctrine  of  Christianity  rests  upon  this,  —  that  it 


Seem.  XIV.]  GOUS    COMMANDMENT.  139 

includes  and  embraces  all  other  doctrines  and  opinions 
about  the  nature  of  God  that  have  ever  existed  in  the 
Church.  The  theological  part  of  this  great  argument 
I  leave  untouched  ;  but  it  may  be  well  to  see,  practi- 
cally, in  how  many  instances  we  are  sustained  and 
guided  and  comforted  by  this  reflection  of  the  breadth, 
the  immensity,  the  vastness  of  God's  Commandment 
and  of  God's  Revelation. 

1.  "  I  see  that  all  things  come  to  an  end."  So  we 
may  say  of  all  human  institutions  and  customs,  espe- 
cially when  we  have  gone  through  many  lands,  and 
seen  many  forms  of  opinion  and  worship.  "  I  see  that 
there  is  a  boundary  beyond  which  they  cannot  pass," — 
I  see  that  the  institutions  of  the  West  come  to  an  end 
almost  abruptly  when  they  reach  the  extremity  of 
Europe.  I  see  that  the  institutions  of  the  East  come 
to  an  end  no  less  abruptly  when  they  reach  the 
extremity  of  Asia.  We  have  followed  each  to  their 
utmost  limit ;  they  cannot  pass  farther.  But  there  is 
one  thing  which  is  broad  enough  to  embrace  them 
both  and  cross  them  both,  namely,  the  Commandment 
of  God.  Go  where  we  will,  through  East  or  West, 
the  moral  Law  of  God,  as  written  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
is  still  found  the  one  bond  of  human  brotherhood. 
Amidst  all  other  differences,  justice,  purity,  generosity, 
truth,  though  they  meet  with  different  degrees  of 
appreciation,  yet  do  still  claim  everywhere  our  respect 
and  reverence  and  the  respect  and  reverence  of  others. 
And  yet  more  than  this  :  go  where  we  will,  we  shall 
find  that  true  Christianity  —  for  the  very  reason  that 
it  is  based  on  the  moral  law,  and  lays  the  whola  stress 
of  religious  teaching  upon  it  —  is  capable  of  address- 
ing itself  to  the  most  diverse  forms  of  the  human  race. 


140  THE   END.  [Serm.  XIV. 

It  came  fi'om  Asia:  it  has  taken  root  in  Europe. 
"  Christendom  "  is  not  merely  a  geographical  expres- 
sion. Its  boundaries  are  not  confined  to  the  place  of 
its  birth  nor  to  the  scenes  of  its  subsequent  establish- 
ment. No  single  Church  can  claim  for  itself  the 
graces  of  the  whole.  No  single  creed  has  exhausted 
the  whole  of  Christian  truth.  We  may  dwell  with 
pleasure,  with  comfort,  on  the  goodness  and  the  truth 
which  prevail  in  each.  When  we  return  to  our  own 
Church,  we  may  thank  God  that  it  is  large  enough 
and  generous  enough  to  have  a  place  for  all  who  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  wish  to  serve  Him  faithfully. 
When  we  return  to  our  own  country,  to  our  own 
duties,  to  our  own  homes,  we  may  thankfully  remem- 
ber that  Christ  is  here  as  well  as  there ;  that,  though 
there.  He  is  also  here,  —  to  be  loved  and  followed  and 
adored  here,  as  faithfully  as  ever  in  former  times  He 
was  loved  and  adored  and  followed  there. 

2.  This  is  the  most  general  sense  in  which  these 
words  are  true.  But  they  are  also  true  in  all  the 
special  relations  of  life.  "  I  see  that  all  things  come 
to  an  end."  "  I  see  that  all  earthly  pleasures  and 
enjoyments,  one  after  another,  have  their  natural 
ending."  Not  only  wicked  and  selfish  pleasures,  which 
last  only  for  the  moment  of  their  gratification,  but 
innocent,  just,  good  enjoyments,  of  necessity  come  to 
an  end,  or  pass  into  something  else.  One  kind  of 
enjoyment  succeeds  to  another,  one  occupation  treads 
on  another's  heels.  The  journey  of  life,  like  the 
actual  journey  of  travellers,  is  broken  up  again  and 
again.  One  scene  puts  another  out  of  our  recollection. 
"  But  the  commandment  of  God  is  exceeding  broad." 
Through  all  this  complicated  web  there  is  one  golden 


Seem.  XIV.]  GOD'S    COMMANDMENT.  141 

thread,  which  runs  on  without  breaking,  and  that  is  the 
thread  of  duty,  which  is  the  thread  of  honor  and  use- 
fiihiess  and  happiness.  This  leads  us  into  spheres 
which  go  on  enlarging  and  enlarging  still,  with  every 
step  in  life.  Unlike  that  story  of  the  iron  shroud  or 
room,  which  enclosed  its  prisoner,  day  by  day,  within 
a  narrower  and  narrower  circle,  the  chamber  of  duty 
and  of  God's  commandment  widens  and  opens  and 
expands  with  new  interests,  new  enjoyments,  new 
affections,  new  hopes,  at  every  successive  step  we  take, 
till  we  find  ourselves  at  last  in  that  Presence,  where 
there  is  indeed  "  fulness  of  joy  and  pleasure  for 
evermore." 

3.  Again,  "  I  see  that  all  human  greatness  comes  to 
an  end."  Every  station  in  life,  however  great  or 
however  prosperous,  has  its  drawbacks,  its  checks,  its 
limits.  It  depends  on  circumstances  over  which  we 
have  no  control,  and  which  may  crumble  beneath  our 
feet ;  it  depends  on  popular  favor,  which  may  cease ; 
on  friends  who  may  fall  away,  on  enemies  who  are 
watching  for  our  overthrow ;  on  the  chances  of 
advancement ;  on  the  life,  or  the  health,  or  the  caprice, 
of  ourselves  or  of  others.  But  moral  or  Christian 
greatness  is  "  exceeding  broad."  The  basis  on  which 
it  is  built  up  is  as  broad  and  firm  as  the  conscience  and 
heart  of  man,  as  the  grace  and  goodness  of  God.  It 
cuts  across  all  other  divisions  of  life.  A  good  deed,  a 
Christian  feeling,  can  cheer  us  when  nothing  else  can 
cheer  us,  —  can  support  us  when  nothing  else  can 
support  us,  —  can  give  a  zest  to  happiness,  which  not 
to  have  is  not  to  have  happiness  at  all ;  which  in 
adversity  can  console  us  when  every  other  kind  of 
comfort  is  useless. 


142  THE    END.  [Seem.  XIV. 

4.  Again,  "  I  see  that  all  things  come  to  an  end." 
Even  the  most  far-reaching  intellect  and  its  effects 
come  to  an  end  at  last.  Look  at  those  greatest  of  all 
monuments  of  the  mind  of  man,  —  books.  How 
rapidly  they  come  to  an  end  !  How  often  it  happens 
that  the  very  characteristic  which  insures  to  a  book  its 
fame  for  this  year  or  this  century,  is  the  very  cause  of 
its  passing  away  in  the  next !  One  Book  alone  has 
outlasted  many  generations,  in  all  nations  equally,  and 
that  is  the  Bible  ;  and  this  is  because  of  its  "  exceed- 
ing breadth,"  —  because  it  embraces  every  variety  and 
element  of  thought,  and  every  phase  of  society ;  above 
all,  because  it  embodies  in  every  part  the  moral  com- 
mandment of  God,  which  endures  forever  in  Heaven, 
and  which  speaks  not  to  one  condition  of  life  only, 
but  to  all. 

5.  Again,  "  I  see  that  all  human  characters  come  to 
an  end."  How  often  do  we  see  those  who  are  good 
and  wise  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  beyond  that  we 
come,  as  it  were,  to  a  precipice,  —  they  break  down, 
as  we  say;  we  wonder  that,  being  so  good  as  they 
are,  they  are  not  better,  that,  being  as  wise  as  they 
are,  they  are  not  wiser.  One  Character  there  is 
which  is  so  '•'•  exceeding  broad,"  as  to  grasp  and 
overlap  all  others.  This  is  the  true  sign  of  the 
Divinity  of  the  Character  of  Christ.  It  is  the  per- 
sonification not  of  one  part  only,  but  of  the  whole  of 
the  Law  of  God.  It  has  not  the  littleness  of  a  mere 
teacher,  nor  the  narrowness  of  a  hermit  or  a  saint, 
nor  the  eccentricity  of  genius.  "  His  shoulder,"  as 
the  Prophet  says,  is  broad  enough  "  to  bear  the  gov- 
ernment "  and  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  His  mind 
is  wide  enough  to  sympathize  with  all  our  infirmities, 


Serm.  XIV.]         GOD'S    COMMANDMENT,  143 

as  well  as  with  all  our  efforts  after  good  in  every  direc- 
tion. No  griefs  of  life  are  more  trying  than  those 
which  arise  from  the  half-goodness  or  the  half-wisdom 
of  those  Avhom  we  wish  to  love  and  respect.  It  is 
when  we  think  of  these  things,  that  the  Perfect  Law 
and  the  Perfect  Mind  of  Christ  is  so  inexpressibly 
consoling.  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  /  will  give  you  rest."  Come  unto 
Him,  and  in  His  greatness  we  shall  find  the  enlarge- 
ment of  our  littleness,  in  His  tenderness  we  shall  find 
the  softening  of  our  harshness,  in  His  compassion  we 
shall  find  the  lio-htenincr  of  our  burden.  "  I  said,  It  is 
mine  own  infirmity  ;  but  I  will  remember  the  years  of 
the  right  hand  of  the  Most  Hio;hest." 

6.  Again,  "  I  see  that  human  life  comes  to  an  end." 
Our  earthly  life,  the  earthly  life  of  those  whom  we 
have  known  and  loved,  is  cut  short  by  that  dark  abyss 
into  which  we  cannot  penetrate,  and  over  wdiich  our 
thoughts  can  hardly  pass.  But  God's  commandment, 
and  the  ftdfilment  of  God's  commandments,  is  "  ex- 
ceeding broad ;  "  it  is  broad  enough  to  span  even 
that  wide  and  deep  river  which  parts  this  life  and  the 
next.  For  it  is  this  which  makes  this  life  and  the  next 
life  one.  Knowledge,  prophecies,  gift  of  all  kinds  pass 
away,  but  the  Love  of  God  and  the  Love  of  man  never 
fail.  They  continue  into  the  unseen  world  beyond  the 
grave  ;  the  remembrance  of  these  things,  as  we  have 
known  them  here,  enables  us  still  to  think  of  them 
there  ;  the  unselfish  purpose,  the  generous  sympathy, 
the  deep  affection,  the  transparent  sincerity,  the  long 
self-control,  the  simple  humility,  of  those  to  whom  the 
Commandment  of  God  has  been  precious,  —  these  are 
the  arches  of  that  bridge,  on  which  our  thoughts  and 


144  THE   END.  [Serm.  XIV. 

hopes  cross  and  recross  the  widest  and  most  myste- 
rious of  all  the  chasms  which  divide  us  ;  the  gulf  which 
divides  the  dead  and  the  living,  the  gulf  which  divides 
God  and  man. 

7.  Yes,  "  I  see  that  all  things  come  to  an  end."  I 
see  that  human  systems,  human  pleasures,  human 
greatness,  human  wisdom,  human  excellence,  human 
life,  come  to  an  end.  But  the  Commandment,  the 
Kevelation  of  God  never  comes  to  an  end,  because 
God  Himself  is  Infinite,  —  God,  whom  we  this  day 
adore  in  His  Three  Infinite  Perfections.  So  let  us 
conclude  with  that  Apostolic  benediction  which,  in 
summing  up  those  Divine  Perfections,  expresses  all 
that  any  human  being  can  wish  for  another  in  the 
welcomes  or  the  partings  of  life,  —  "  the  Love  of  God, 
the  Grrace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christy  the  Felloivship  of  the 
Holy  Ghost:' 

The  "  Love  of  God  "  our  Father  never  comes  to  an 
end.  In  every  dispensation,  sorrowful  or  joyful  —  in 
every  duty,  in  every  trial  —  in  the  great  waters,  in 
the  heaven  of  heavens  —  in  our  manifold  blessings  — 
in  our  laughter,  in  our  tears,  in  the  fiilness  of  health, 
in  the  darkness  of  the  grave  —  the  Hand  of  God  is 
with  us  ;  His  love  is  with  us  ;  —  and  may  it  be  with 
us  always. 

"  The  Grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  never 
comes  to  an  end.  The  "  grace  "  the  beauty,  the  love- 
liness of  His  character  is  infinite.  The  "  grace  "  the 
favor,  the  good-will,  which  He  alone  can  give,  is  far 
beyond  all  human  popularity,  above  all  human  praise, 
and  worth  all  human  judgment.  The  "  grace,"  the 
forgiveness,  the  mercy,  which  we  all  so  much  need, 
which  we  are  all  so  unwilling  to  give  to  others,  —  this 


Serm.  XIV.]  GOD'S    COMMANDMENT.  145 

in  oiir  loving  Saviour  is  "  exceeding  broad,"  granted 
to  the  first  beginning  of  repentance,  giving  welcome  to 
the  Immblest  of  our  efforts  after  good.  i\Iay  this  grace 
of  Christ  our  Lord  be  with  us  now  and  always  ! 

And  "  the  Fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost^^  the  com- 
munion of  the  Holy  Spirit  —  this  also  has  no  end.  It 
has  no  end,  no  limit,  except  that  which  our  own  self- 
ishness, or  sin,  or  folly,  puts  in  its  way.  The  fellow- 
ship, the  communion,  in  good  thoughts,  in  good  deeds, 
in  wise  words,  —  the  mterchange  of  loving  hearts,  and 
the  combination  for  noble  objects,  and  the  cooperation 
for  one  another's  welfare,  and  the  approval  of  those 
whom  we  love  and  honor,  —  this  is  a  fellowship  which 
reaches  across  all  differences  of  time  and  place  and 
station  and  tastes  and  character ;  which  reaches  to  the 
very  verge  of  the  grave,  and  beyond  the  grave,  —  for 
it  is  the  fellowship  of  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  God  Him- 
self. May  this  communion  and  fellowship  be  with  us 
and  remain  with  us  always,  and  bind  us  ever  closer 
and  closer  to  each  other  and  to  God  ! 


10 


NOTICES 

OF  SOIE  LOCALITIES  IN  THE  EAST 

VISITED  BY  HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS  THE    PRINCE 
OF  WALES,   IN  1862. 


INTRODUCTION. 
I.  THE    MOSQUE    OF    HEBRON. 
II.  THE    SAMARITAN    PASSOVER, 
m.   GALILEE. 

IV.  HERMON    AND    LEBANON. 
V.  PATMOS. 


INTEQDUCTION. 


I  HAVE  already  stated  in  the  Preface  to  this  vol- 
ume, that  the  following  Notices  do  not  pretend  to 
anything  like  a  continuous  narrative  of  His  Royal 
Highness's  journey.  They  are  intended  simply  to 
record  some  of  the  scenes  peculiar  to  the  occasion, 
and  to  fui-nish  a  few  additional  illustrations  to  works 
already  published. 

The  tour  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  originally  to 
have  included  Greece,  Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Constan- 
tinople. The  delay,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the 
lamented  Prince  Consort,  necessitated  the  omission  of 
Greece  from  the  earlier  stage  of  the  tour,  which  thus, 
after  a  rapid  journey  through  Europe,  and  brief  visits 
to  the  most  remarkable  spots  in  the  Adriatic,  may  be 
said  to  have  begun  with  Egypt.  In  Egypt,  between 
Alexandria  and  the  First  Cataract,  were  spent  the 
three  first  weeks  of  March.  The  voyage  of  the  Prince 
up  the  Nile  was  facilitated  in  every  way  by  the  munif- 
icent hospitahty  of  the  late  Viceroy,  and  he  was  thus 
enabled  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  to  see  the  chief 
wonders  of  Egypt,  —  the  Pyramids,  Esneh,  Philae, 
Edfou,  Thebes,  Dendera,  Memphis,  Cairo,  Suez.  To 
my  own  former  impressions  of  Egypt  I  have  but  httle 
to  add.  Yet  there  are  two  points  on  which  I  w^ould 
touch   for   a  moment.     The  first   is   the   melancholy 


150  EGYPT.  [INTROD 

thought,  that  ours  is  probably  the  last  generation 
which  will  be  permitted  to  see  the  glory  of  the  Egyp- 
tian sculptures,  as  they  were  first  revealed  to  the  ex- 
plorers of  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Even  with- 
in the  nine  years  which  elapsed  between  my  two  visits, 
the  smoke  of  travellers'  torches,  and  the  disfigurement 
by  travellers'  names,  and  the  injury  by  travellers' 
spoliations,  have  rendered  "  the  fine  gold  dim  "  in  many 
of  the  paintings  and  inscriptions  ;  in  another  fifty  years 
it  is  probable  that  many  of  them  will  be  almost  unde- 
cipherable. But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  excavation 
of  the  ancient  monuments  had  in  the  same  interval 
brought  to  light  so  much,  and  promises  to  do  so  much 
more,  that,  as  I  have  elsewhere  expressed  a  hope,  the 
study  of  Egyptian  History  has  still  a  large  field  in 
prospect.  One  such  result  is  to  be  seen  in  the  statues 
in  the  museum  at  Cairo,  collected  by  M.  Mariette. 
Amongst  them  (to  select  only  one)  is  the  oldest  statue, 
or  at  least  the  representation  of  the  oldest  known 
countenance  in  the  world,  —  Chephren^  the  builder 
of  the  Second  Pyramid.  No  one  who  has  seen  it 
can  lose  the  recollection  of  his  singularly  expressive 
features,  his  strong  protruding  mouth,  his  immov- 
able head,  supported  and  protected  by  the  claws  and 
wings  of  the  Sacred  Hawk,  the  Bird  of  the  Sun. 
Another  result,  on  a  larger  scale,  is  the  Temple  of 
Edfou.  Formerly  it  was  choked  up  by  the  mud-huts 
of  an  Egyptian  village,  the  heads  of  the  sculptured 
gods,  and  the  capitals  of  the  vast  pillars  just  emerging 
from  the  piles  of  sand  and  rubbish.  M.  Mariette,  in 
1859,  had  been  sent  by  the  Viceroy  to  clear  it  out. 
The  peasants  refused  to  move.  He  drew  a  trench 
round  the   Temple,  and  reduced  them  by  blockade. 


INTROD.]  PALESTINE.  151 

The  villagers  surrendered,  and  tlie  village  was  trans- 
planted to  the  outside.  Now,  as  one  looks  from  the 
top  of  the  gigantic  towers,  the  whole  edifice  stands  out 
more  perfect  in  all  its  parts  than  any  deserted  abbey  of 
Western  Europe.  Three  points  struck  me  particularly 
as  illustrative  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  worship.  There 
was  the  same  complexity  and  multiplication  of  cham- 
bers, staircases,  and  passages,  to  and  fro,  as  that  exhib- 
ited in  any  mediaeval  cathedral ;  even  down  to  the 
small  closets  or  vestries,  with  cupboards  and  recesses 
for  the  sacred  vestments.  There  was  the  innermost 
sanctuary,  standing  (as  may  be  seen,  though  less  clear- 
ly, at  Karnak  and  Luxor)  quite  distinct  from  every- 
thing adjoining ;  a  space,  as  in  the  Jewish  Holy  of 
Hohes,  drawn  round  it,  evidently  to  prevent  it  from 
coming  into  contact  with  any  part  even  of  the  Temple 
itself.  There  was  in  this  sanctuary  a  huge  granite 
shrine,  such  as  is  seen  nowhere  else  in  Egypt,  but 
such  as  must  in  some  form  have  existed  everywhere. 
It  stands  by  itself,  the  marks  of  the  door  or  grate  still 
visible  in  the  entrance,  which  doubtless  enclosed  the 
sacred  animal,  —  probably  the  Sacred  Hawk,  —  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  Deity  of  the  Temple. 

We  returned  to  Cairo  on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  the 

23d  of  March In  the  course  of  that  week  the 

Prince  of  Wales  embarked  from  Alexandria  for  Pales- 
tine, and  at  its  close,  arrived  at  Jaffa,  where  we  disem- 
barked on  the  31st  March. 

In  the  journey  through  the  Holy  Land,  from  which 
the  follo"v\dng  Notices  are  chiefly  taken,  it  will  readily 
be  understood  that,  whilst  the  general  characteristics  of 
the  tour  were  those  which  would  have  belonged  to  the 


152  PALESTINE.  [INTROD. 

passage  of  any  other  English  traveller,  there  were  some 
which  were  peculiar  to  this  journey,  and  which  thus 
revived  again  and  again  the  thought  that,  since  the 
time  of  Prince  Edward  and  Eleanor,  this  was  the  first 
visit  paid  by  an  heir  of  the  Crown  of  England  to 
these  sacred  regions. 

That  long  cavalcade,  sometimes  amounting  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  persons,  of  the  Prince  and  his  suite, 
the  Enghsh  servants,  the  troop  of  fifty  or  a  hundred 
Turkish  cavalry,  their  spears  glittering  in  the  sun,  and 
their  red  pennons  streaming  in  the  air,  as  they  wound 
their  way  through  the  rocks  and  thickets,  and  over  the 
stony  ridges  of  Syi'ia,  was  a  sight  that  enlivened  even 
the  tamest  landscape,  and  lent  a  new  charm  even  to 
the  most  beautiful.  Most  remarkably  was  this  felt  on 
om-  first  entrance  mto  Palestine,  and  on  our  first  ap- 
proach to  Jerusalem.  The  entrance  of  the  Prince  into 
the  Holy  Land  was  almost  on  the  footsteps  of  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion,  and  of  Edward  I.  under  the  tower  of 
Eamleh  and  in  the  ruined  cathedral  of  S.  Georcre,  at 
Lydda.  Thence  we  had  climbed  the  pass  of  Joshua's 
victory  at  Beth-horon,^  had  caught  the  first  glimpse  of 
Jerusalem  from  the  top  of  the  Mosque  of  the  Prophet 
Samuel,  where  Richard  had  stood  and  refused  to  look 
on  the  Holy  Sepulchre  which  he  was  not  thought 
worthy  to  rescue.  Then  came  the  full  view  of  the 
Holy  City  from  the  northern  road,  the  ridge  of 
Scopus,^  —  the  view  immortalized  in  Tasso's  description 
of  the  first  advance  of  the  Crusaders.  The  cavalcade 
had  now  swelled  into  a  strange  and  motley  crowd. 
The  Turkish  Governor  and  his  suite,  —  the  English 
Consul  and  the  English  clergy,  —  groups  of  uncouth 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  iv.  210,  214.  2  ii)id.  c.  iii.  186. 


INTKOD.]  PALESTINE.  153 

Jews,  —  Franciscan  monks  and  Greek  priests,  —  liere 
and  there  under  the  clumps  of  trees,  groups  of  children 
singing  hymns,  —  the  stragglers  at  last  becoming  a  mob, 
—  the  clatter  of  the  horses'  hoofs  on  the  hard  stones  of 
that  rocky  and  broken  road  drowning  every  other 
sound,  —  such  was  the  varied  procession,  which,  barbar- 
ous as  it  was,  still  seemed  to  contain  within  itself  the 
representatives,  or,  if  one  will,  the  oflPscourings  of  all 
nations,  and  thus  to  combine  the  impressive,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  the  grotesque  and  melancholy  aspect  which 
so  pecuharly  marks  the  modern  Jerusalem. 

Our  tents  were  pitched  outside  the  Damascus  Gate, 
near  the  scene  of  the  encampment  of  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon,  and  from  thence  we  explored  the  city  and 
the  nei2:hborhood. 


THE  lOSQUE  OF  HEBEOK 


SKETCH  PLAN  OF  THE  MOSQUE  AT  HEBRON. 


REFERENCE    TO   FIGURES. 


1.  Shrine  of  Abraham. 


2 

"       "   Sarah. 

3 

"        "   Isaac. 

4 

■•   Rebekah. 

5 

"  Jacob. 

6 

"   Leah. 

7 

"        "  Joseph. 

,  Two  Mo- 

8 

"  }  hammedan 

(  Saints. 

9 

Fountain. 

10 

Raised  platform. 

11. 

3Iikmb. 

12. 

Merhala*  (or  platform 

for  the  Preacher). 

13. 

Circular  aperture  lead- 

ing to  Cave. 

U. 

Minbar  (or  pulpit). 

N.  B.  —  The  deep  black  lines  mark  the  ancient  Jewish  Wall.     The  sliaded  parts  are  unknown. 


EEFERENCE   TO  LETTERS. 


A.  Flight  of  Steps  to  out- 

er door. 

B.  Long  narrow  passage 

of  easy  steps,  bound- 
ed on  the  left  by  an- 
cient Jewish  wall. 

C.  Fountain. 

D.  Here  Shoes  are  left  at 

the  door  of  a  ceiled 
room. 

E.  Passage  Chamber. 

F.  Mosque,    containing 

two  Slirines. 

G.  Outer  Court. 

H.  Cloister  of  round  arch- 
es, with  domed  roof. 
—  The  Outer  Nar- 
thex. 

K.  Inner  Narthex. 

L.  Nave  of  Byzantine 
Church. 

M.  Long,  lofty  Room, 
leading  to  circular 
Chambers,  contain- 
ing Shrines  of  Jacob 
and  Leah. 

N.  Do.,  to  that  containing 
Shrine  of  Joseiih. 

O.  Minaret. 

P.  Windows. 

Q.  Minaret. 

R.  The  Jiwaliyeh  Mosque, 
built  by  Jawali. 

S.  Supplementary  Stair- 
case running  up  the 
N.W.  waU. 


The  accompanying  Plan  was  drawn  up  by  my  friend  and  fellow-traveller,  the  Hon.  R.  H.  Meade,  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Rosen,  immediately  after  the 
visit  to  the  Mosque.  It  may  be  comptired  with  the  Sketches  of  the  Mosque,  given  from  the  information  of  Mussulmans,  in  Osburn's  Palestine  Past  and 
Present,  and  in  the  Travels  of  AH  Be;/.  I  have  also  compared  it  with  an  unpublished  Plan  shown  to  me  by  the  kindness  of  M.  Pierotti.  Between  tliese  various 
sketches  there  are  several  points  of  difference.  But  it  has  been  thought  best  to  give  Mr.  Meade's  Plan  as  it  was  drawn  up  at  the  time,  independently  of  any 
Other  authority. 


*  This  platform  in  Egyptian  Mosi]' 
by  Mr.  Lane,  not,  within  his  Itnowledge,  applied  to  this  kind  of  platform, 
means  a  fitase.  resting-place,  or  goal  of !  '  .-  .         . 

heard  the  word  in  this  specific  sense  app 
In  a  castle  on  an  island  in  the  Wadi  En 


It  was,  however,  certainly  used  for  the  plfi 

it  may  have  been  used  in  connection  with  the  final  resting-place  of  the  Patriarchs'  earthly  remains.    Mr.  Cyril  Graham  informs  i 

by  the  Bedawin  of  the  tribe  Metlek,  ea^t  of  the  Haur&n,  who  hold  very  holy  the  Merhatat  of  a  certain  Lady  Nimreh,  bint  en  na77iiir,  i 


I.    THE   MOSQUE   OF  HEBRON. 


THERE  were  formerly  four  sanctuaries  in  Palestine, 
which  Mussulman  jealousy  carefully  guarded  from 
the  approach  of  Christians.  These  were  the  Mosque 
of  Omar  and  the  Mosque  of  David  at  Jerusalem,  the 
Great  Mosque  at  Damascus,  and  the  Mosque  of  He- 
bron. Of  these,  however,  the  first  and  third  had 
within  the  last  few  years  become  accessible,  and  to 
these  every  facility  of  access  was  given  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales  on  the  present  occasion.  The  second  was  of 
too  dubious  a  character  (as  will  be  presently  noticed) 
to  justify  any  strong  demand  for  its  inspection.  But 
the  fom-th,  the  Mosque  of  Hebron,  —  in  other  words 
the  Sanctuary,  first  Jewish,  then  Christian,  now  Mus- 
sulman, which  is  supposed  to  cover  the  Cave  of  Mach- 
pelah, — is,  of  all  the  Holy  Places  in  Palestine,  the 
one  which  has  excited  in  modern  times  the  keenest 
curiosity,  and  which  at  the  same  time  rests  on  the  best 
historical  evidence.  When  on  the  eve  of  my  first  visit 
to  Palestine  in  1852,  I  saw  the  great  German  geogra- 
pher, Ritter,  this  was  the  point  to  which  he  most  ear- 
nestly invited  my  attention.  When  in  the  course  of 
that  journey  we  reached  Hebron,  it  was  with  reluc- 
tance that  we  abandoned,  as  a  total  impossibility,  the 
hope  of  penetrating  within  that  inaccessible  sanctuary. 
It  is  through  the  effort  made  by  the  Prince  of  Wales 
in  his  jom^ney  of  1862,  that  this  wish  has,  so  far  as 


158  THE  MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

circumstances  could  admit,  been  at  last  gratified,  and 
the  success  which  crowned  this  effort  gave  to  his 
Eastern  pilgrimage  a  peculiar  value  such  as  has  been 
attached  to  the  visit  of  no  other  European  Prince  to 
the  Holy  Land. 

It  will  be  well  first  to  indicate  the  extraordmary 
interest  which  attaches  to  the  spot. 

The  Cave  of  Machpelah  is  described  in  the  Book 
of  Genesis  with  a  particularity  almost  resembling 
The  Cave  of  ^^^^  ^^  ^  legal  deed.  The  name  of  "  Mach- 
Machpeiah.  pgi^h,"  or  rather  "the  Machpelah,"  appears 
to  have  belonged  to  the  whole  district  or  prop- 
erty,^ though  it  is  applied  sometimes  to  the  cave,^ 
and  sometimes  to  the  field.^  The  meaning  of  the 
word  is  quite  uncertain,  though  that  of  ''  double,"  * 
which  is  adopted  in  all  the  ancient  versions  (almost 
always  as  if  applied  to  the  cave)  is  the  most  probable. 
In  this  "  Machpelah"  was  a  field,  "  a  cultivated  field," 
which  belonged  not  to  one  of  the  Amorite  chiefs,-^ 
Aner,  Eshcol,  or  Mamre,  —  but  to  a  Hittite,  Ephron 
the  son  of  Zohar.^  The  field  was  planted,  as  most  of 
those  around  the  vale  of  Hebron,  with  trees ;  olives, 
terebinths,  or  ilexes.  At  one  "  end,"  ^  probably  the 
upper  end,  was  a  cave.  The  whole  place  was  in  the 
face^  of  "Mamre,"  that  is,  as  it  would  seem,  opposite 

1  Gen.  xxiii.  17.     "  The  field  of  Ephron,  which  was  in  Machpelah." 

2  Ibid.  9  ;  XXV.  9.     "  The  cave  of  (the)  Machpelah." 

3  Gen.  xxiii.  19;  xlix.  30;  1.  13.     "  Tiie  field  of  (the)  Machpelah." 

4  "  Speluiica  duplex,"  Vulgate,  rb  anf/Xatov,  to  dtTrXovv,  LXX.  passim. 
Syriac,  passim,  except  in  Gen.  1.  13,  where  it  is  rendered  "  the  double 
field." 

5  Gen.  xxiii.  8;  xxv.  9. 

6  Gen.  xxiii.  9. 

">  This  interpretation  of  the  words  "before"  or  "in  the  face  of"  Mamre, 
would  require  that  Mamre  should  be  on  the  hill  immediately  to  the  south 


I.]  THE   CAVE   OF  MACHPELAH.  159 

the  oaks  or  terebinths  of  Mamre,  the  Amorlte,  where 
Abraham  had  pitched  his  tent.  In  this  case,  it  would 
be  immediately  within  view  of  his  encampment ;  and 
the  open  mouth  of  the  cave  may  be  supposed  to  have 
attracted  his  attention  long  before  he  made  the  pro- 
posal which  ended  in  his  purchase  of  this,  his  first  and 
only  property  in  the  Holy  Land.  "  There  they  buried 
Abraham  and  Sarah  his  wife  ;  there  they  buried  Isaac 
and  Rebekah  his  wife ;  and  there,"  according  to  the 
dying  speech  of  the  last  of  the  Patriarchs,  "  Jacob 
buried  Leah ;  "  and  there  he  himself  was  buried^  "in 
the  cave  of  the  field  of  Machpelah,  which  Abraham 
bought  for  a  possession  of  a  burial-place  from  Ephron 
the  Hittite  before  Mamre."  2 

This  is  the  last  Biblical  notice  of  the  Cave  of  Mach- 
pelah. After  the  close  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  no 
mention  is  made  of  it  in  the  Scriptures.  Even  in  the 
New  Testament,  in  the  speech  of  Stephen,^  by  a  sin- 
gular variation,  the  tomb  at  Shechem  is  substituted 
for  it.  It  is  not  even  mentioned  in  the  account  of 
Caleb's  conquest  of  Hebron,  nor  of  David's  reign 
there.  The  only  possible  allusion  is  the  statement  in 
Absalom's  life,*  that  he  had  vowed  a  pilgrimage  to 
Hebron. 

But  the  formal  and  constant  reference  to  it  in  the 
Book  of  Genesis  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  not  only  for  a 
spot  of  that  name  having  existed  from  early  times,  but 


of  the  modern  town  of  Hebron.  It  must  be  admitted  that  such  a  position 
is  inconsistent  with  the  traditional  locality  either  of  the  existing  "  oak"  of 
Abraham,  or  (what  is  more  important)  of  the  place  of  the  sacred  "  tere- 
binth "  worshipped  as  the  spot  of  his  encampment,  five  miles  to  the  north 
of  Hebron.     The  Vulgate  translates  the  words,  "  e  regione.''^ 

1  Gen.  xlix.  30.  3  Acts  vii.  16. 

2  Ibid.  1.  13.  4  2  Sam.  xv.  7. 


160  THE   MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

also  for  its  having  been  known  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
position of  the  Book,  and  of  its  introduction  into  the 
Jewish  Canon.  That  cannot  be  earher,  on  any  hy- 
pothesis, than  the  time  of  Moses,  nor  later  than  the 
times  of  the  Monarchy. 

We  are  not  left,  however,  entirely  in  the  dark. 
The  En-  Joscplius,  in  liis  "  Antiquitics,"  tells  us  that 
closure.  there  were  ^  "  monuments  built  there  by 
Abraham  and  his  descendants ; "  and  in  his  "  Jew- 
ish War,"  that  "  the  monuments  of  Abraham  and  his 
sons  "  (apparently  alluding  to  those  already  mentioned 
in  the  Antiquities),  "  were  still  shown  at  Hebron,  of 
beautiful  marble,  and  admirably  worked."  ^  These 
monuments^  can  hardly  be  other  than  what  the 
"  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim,"  in  a.  d.  333,  describes  as  "  a 
quadrangle  of  stones  of  astonishing  beauty;"  and  these 
again  are  clearly  those  which  exist  at  the  present  day, 
—  the  massive  enclosure  of  the  Mosque.  The  tradi- 
tion, thus  carried  up  unquestionably  to  the  age  of 
Josephus,  is  in  fact  carried  by  the  same  argument 
much  higher.  For  the  walls,  as  they  now  stand,  and 
as  Josephus  speaks  of  them,  must  have  been  built 
before  his  time.  The  terms  which  he  uses  imply  this ; 
and  he  omits  to  mention  them  amongst  the  works  of 
Herod  the  Great,  the  only  potentate  who  could  or 
would  have  built  them  in  his  time,  and  amongst  whose 
buildings  they  must  have  occupied,  if  at  all,  a  distin- 
guished place.  But,  if  not  erected  by  Herod,  there  is 
then  no  period  at  which  we  can  stop  short  of  the  Mon- 
archy. So  elaborate  and  costly  a  structure  is  incon- 
ceivable in  the  disturbed  and  impoverished  state  of  the 

1  Am.  i.  14.  2  B.  J.  iv.  9,  §  7. 

3  For  the  later  list  of  witnesses  see  Robinson's  B.  R.  ii.  77,  78. 


I.]  THE    CAVE    OF  MACHPELAH.  161 

nation  after  the  Return.  It  is  to  the  kings,  at  least, 
that  the  walls  must  be  referred,  and,  if  so,  to  none  so 
likely  as  one  of  the  sovereigns  to  whom  they  are 
ascribed  by  Jewish  and  Mussulman  ^  tradition,  — 
David  or  Solomon.  Beyond  this  we  can  hardly  ex- 
pect to  find  a  continuous  proof.  But  by  this  time, 
we  have  almost  joined  the  earlier  tradition  implied  in 
the  reception  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  with  its  detailed 
local  description,  into  the  Jewish  Sacred  Books. 

With  this  early  origin  of  the  present  enclosure  its 
appearance  ^  fully  agrees.  With  the  long  continuity  of 
the  tradition  agrees  also  the  general  character  of  He- 
bron and  its  vicinity.  There  is  no  spot  in  Palestine, 
except,  perhaps,  Mount  Gerizim,  where  the  geiiius  loci 
has  been  so  slightly  disturbed  in  the  lapse  of  centuries. 
There  is  already  a  savor  of  antiquity  in  the  earliest 
mention  of  Hebron,  "built  seven  years  before  Zoan^ 
in  Egypt."  In  it  the  names  of  the  Amorite  *  inhabi- 
tants were  preserved  long  after  they  had  perished  else- 

1  The  Mussulman  name  at  the  present  day  for  the  enclosure  is  "  the  wall 
of  Solomon." 

2  The  peculiarities  of  the  masonry  are  these: —  (1.)  Some  of  the  stones 
are  very  large;  Dr.  Wilson  mentions  one  38  feet  long,  and  3  feet  4  inches 
deep:  others  are  16  feet  long,  and  5  feet  high.  The  largest  in  the  Harara 
wall  at  Jerusalem  is  24i  feet.  But  yet  (2)  the  surface,  in  splendid  pres- 
ervation, is  very  finely  worked,  more  so  than  the  finest  of  the  stones  at 
the  south  and  southwest  portion  of  the  enclosure  at  Jerusalem;  the  sunken 
part  round  the  edges  (sometimes  called  the  "bevel")  very  shallow,  with 
no  resemblance  at  all  to  mere  "rustic  work."  (3.)  The  cross  joints  are  not 
always  vertical,  but  some  are  oblique.  (4.)  The  wall  is  divided  by  pilas- 
ters about  2  feet  6  inches  wide,  and  5  feet  apart,  running  the  entire  height 
of  the  ancient  wall.  There  are  eight  of  these  pilasters  at  the  ends,  and 
sixteen  at  the  sides  of  the  enclosure.  These  observations  are  taken  partly 
from  Mr.  Grove,  who  visited  Hebron  in  1859,  partly  from  Dr.  Robinson 
B.  R.  ii.  75,  76.)  The  length  and  breadth  are  given  by  Dr.  Robinson  re- 
spectively at  200  and  150  feet,  by  Signor  Pierotti  at  1981  and  113^  feet, 
who  also  makes  the  ancient  wall  48  feet  high,  and  6\  feet  thick. 

3  Num.  xiii.  22.  4  jud.  i.  10. 

11 


162       THE   MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

where ;  and  from  the  time  that  the  memory  of  Abra- 
ham first  begun  to  be  clierished  there  it  seems  never 
to  have  ceased.  "  The  Terebinth,  as  old  as  the  Crea- 
tion," ^  was  shown  in  the  time  of  Josephus.  The  Ter- 
ebinth gave  to  the  spot  where  it  stood  the  name  which 
hngers  there  down  to  the  present  day ,2  centuries  after 
the  tree  itself  has  disappeared.  The  fair  held  beneath 
it,  the  worship  offered,  show  that  the  Patriarch  was 
regarded  almost  as  a  Divinity.  The  "  oak  of  Abra- 
ham," now  called  "  the  oak  (^Sindia7i)  of  Sibteh," 
which  stands  in  the  valley  of  Eshcol,  about  a  mile 
westward  of  Hebron,  though  not  able  to  lay  claim  to 
the  same  antiquity  as  the  long  vanished  Terebinth,  yet 
seems  to  have  divided  the  traditional  honors  with  it. 
Josephus,  who,  in  one  of  his  works,  speaks  of  the  Ter- 
ebinth, in  another  speaks  of  the  oak,  "  the  Ogygian," 
antediluvian  oak,^  and  this  is  the  view  taken  by  the 
Septuagint.  It  is  still  in  a  green  old  age.  Since  I 
saw  it  in  1853,  the  glory  of  its  spreading  branches  has 
been  somewhat  diminished ;  one  large  bough  had  fallen 
in  1856  to  the  terror,  almost  the  awe,  of  the  surround- 
ing peasants  ;  but  the  trunk  *  and  the  main  limbs  of 

1  B.  J.  iv.  9,  §  7. 

2  The  name  "  Terebinthus  "  was  a  recognized  appellation  of  the  spot  in 
the  time  of  Jerome.  The  field  immediately  northeast  of  tlie  building  called 
Eametel-Khalil,  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Halkath-el-Butm,"  "Field 
of  the  Terebinth." 

3  Joseph.  A7iL  i.  10,  §  4,  Tf/v  ^Qyvyrjv  Ka?iov/j.Ev?iv  dpvv. 

*  "  In  the  winter  of  1856-57,  when  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  the  snow 
fell  deep  and  lay  for  many  days,  the  accumulation  upon  the  Abraham's 
oak  was  so  great  that  one  of  the  finest  boughs  gave  way  under  the  weight 
and  fell  to  the  ground.  Owing  to  a  superstition  that  any  person  who 
should  cut  or  maim  the  oak  would  lose  his  first-born  son,  considerable 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  procuring  hands  to  saw  up  the  timber  for 
transportation  to  Jerusalem.  Seven  camels  were  loaded  with  the  wood  of 
the  one  limb  of  this  fine  tree."    A  paper  "  On  Three  Oaks  in  Palestine," 


I.]  THE    CAVE    OF  MACHPELAH.  163 

the  tree  remain  vigorous  and  knotted  and  vast  as  be- 
fore. Not  seldom  in  our  own  churchyards  the  aged 
yew  and  the  aged  church  stand  side  by  side  ;  and,  as 
we  glance  from  one  to  the  other,  we  hardly  know 
which  of  the  two  monuments  of  the  past  is  the  most 
venerable,  the  most  affecting.  Even  so  it  is  with  "  the 
oak  of  Abraham "  and  the  sanctuary  which  we  are 
now  more  especially  considering. 

With  the  sanctuary  no  less  than  with  the  oak,  his 
name  is  indissolubly  connected.  Very  early  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  that  sepulchral  quadrangle  assumed  the 
title  of  "  the  Castle  of  Abraham."  But  from  thence 
the  name  spread  to  the  whole  place.  The  Mussulman 
name  of  "  Elkhalil,"  "  The  Friend  (of  God),  has  as 
completely  superseded  in  the  native  population  the 
Israelite  name  of  "  Hebron,"  as  the  name  of  "  He- 
bron "  had  already  superseded  the  Canaanite  name 
of  "  Kirjath-arba."  The  town  itself,  which  in  ancient 
times  must  have  been  at  some  distance  (as  is  implied 
in  the  original  account  of  the  purchase  of  the  burial- 
place),  from  the  sepulchre,  has  descended  from  the 
higher  ground  on  which  it  was  formerly  situated,  and 
clustered  round  the  tomb  which  had  become  the  chief 
centre  of  attraction.  A  similar  instance  may  be  noted 
in  the  name  of  El-Lazarieh,  applied  to  Bethany,  ft-om 
the  reputed  tomb  of  Lazarus,  round  which  the  modern 
village  has  gathered.  In  our  own  country  a  parallel 
may  be  observed  at  St.  Alban's.  The  town  of  Veru- 
1am  has  crossed  the  river  from  the  northern  bank  on 
which  it  formerly  stood,  and  has  climbed  the  southern 

by  J.  D.  Hooker,  M.  D.,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Linnasan  Society,  vol. 
xxiii.  p.  382.  It  contains  (plate  xxxvi.)  an  excellent  representation  of  the 
oak,  of  which  the  scientific  name  is  Quercus  pseudococcifera. 


164  THE  MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [L 

hill  in  order  to  enclose  the  grave  of  S.  Alban,  whose 
name,  in  like  manner,  has  entirely  superseded  that  of 
the  original  Verulam. 

For  the  sake  of  this  sacred  association,  the  town  has 
become  one  of  the  Four  Holy  Places  of  Islam  and  of 
Judaism,  —  the  other  three  in  the  sacred  group  being, 
in  the  case  of  Islam,  Mecca,  Medinah,  and  Jerusalem  ; 
in  the  case  of  Judaism,  Jerusalem,  Safed,  and  Tiberias. 
The  Mosque  is  said  to  have  been  founded  and  adorned 
in  the  successive  reigns  of  Sultan  Kelaoun,  and  of  his 
son  Naser-Mohammed,  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries.  Its  property  consists  of  some  of  the  best 
land  in  the  plains  of  Sharon  and  Philistia. 

But  of  all  the  proofs  of  the  sanctity  of  the  place 
the  most  remarkable  is  the  impenetrable  mystery  in 
which  the  sanctuary  has  been  involved,  being  in  fact  a 
living  witness  of  the  unbroken  local  veneration  with 
which  the  three  religions  of  Jew,  Christian,  and  Mus- 
sulman have  honored  the  great  Patriarch.  The  stones 
of  the  enclosure  have,  as  has  been  said,  been  noticed 
from  the  time  of  Josephus  downwards.  The  long  roof 
of  the  Mosque,  the  upper  part  of  its  windows,  the  two 
minarets  at  the  southwest  and  northeast  corners 
rising  above  the  earlier  and  later  walls  of  the  enclos- 
lire,  have  been  long  familiar  to  travellers.  But  what 
lay  within  had,  till  within  the  present  year,  been  a 
matter  if  not  of  total  ignorance,  yet  of  uncertainty 
more  provoking  than  ignorance  itself.  There  were 
confused  accounts  ^  of  an  early  Christian  Church,  of  a 
subsequent  mosque,  of  the  cave  and  its  situation,  which 

1  Of  these  there  is  a  collection  in  the  Appendix  to  Qimtrem^re's  Transla- 
tion of  the  History  of  the  Mamelook  Sultans  of  Egj'pt,  published  by  the 
Oriental  Translation  Fund,  vol.  i.  part  ii.  p.  239-242. 


I.]  VISIT  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES.        165 

transpired  tlirough  widely  contradictory  statements  of 
occasional  Jewish  and  Christian  pilgrims,  Antoninus, 
Arculf,  and  S^wulf,  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  and  Maun- 
deville.  For  the  six  hundred  years  since  the  Mussul- 
man occupation,  in  a.d.  1187,  no  European,  except  in 
disD'uise,  was  known  to  have  set  foot  within  the  sacred 
precincts.  Three  accounts  alone  of  such  visits  have 
been  given  in  modern  times  ;  one,  extremely  brief  and 
confused,  by  Giovanni  Finati,  an  Italian  servant  of  Mr. 
Bankes,  who  entered  as  a  Mussulman;^  a  second,  by 
an  English  clergyman,  Mr.  Monro,  who,  however,  does 
not  profess  to  speak  from  his  own  testimony ;  ^  a  third, 
by  far  the  most  distinct,  by  the  Spanish  renegade 
Badia,  or  "  Ali  Bey."  ^  While  the  other  sacred  places 
in  Palestine,  —  the  Mosque  at  Jerusalem,  within  the 
last  ten  years,  the  Mosque  of  Damascus,  within  the 
last  two  years,  —  have  been  thrown  open,  at  least  to 
distinguished  travellers,  the  Mosque  of  Hebron  still 
remained,  even  to  royal  personages,  hermetically 
sealed. 

To  break  through  this  mystery,  to  clear  up  this 
uncertainty,  even  irrespectively  of  the  extraordinary 
interest  attaching  to  the  spot,  was  felt  by  those  most 
concerned,  to  be  an  object  not  unworthy  of  the  first 
visit  of  a  Prince  of  Wales  to  the  Holy  Land. 

From  the  moment  that  the  expedition  was  defini- 
tively arranojed  in  January  1862,  it  was  de- 

•  TT-       -n*  TT-  11-  1     The  visit  of 

termmed  by  His  Royal  Highness  and  his  ad-  the  Prince 

of  Wales 

visers,  that  the  attempt  should  be  made,  if  it 

were  fomid  compatible  with  prudence,  and  with  the 

1  Trnveh  of  Finati,  1830,  ii.  236. 

2  Summer  Rmnble  in  Syria,  1835,  i.  242. 

3  Travels  of  Ali  Bey  (1803-1807),  ii.  232. 


166  THE  MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

respect  due  to  the  religious  feelings  of  the  native  pop- 
ulation. On  arriving  at  Jerusalem,  an  inquiry  imme- 
diately arose,  as  to  the  possibility  of  accomplishing  this 
long-cherished  design.  Mr.  Finn,  then  the  English 
Consul,  had  already  prepared  the  way,  by  requesting 
a  Firman  from  the  Porte  for  this  purpose.  The  Gov- 
ernment at  Constantinople,  aware  of  the  susceptible 
fanaticism  of  the  population  of  Hebron,  sent,  instead 
of  a  direct  order,  a  Vizierial  letter  of  recommendation 
to  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem,  leaving  in  fact  the 
whole  matter  to  his  discretion.  The  Governor,  Suraya 
Pasha,  —  partly  from  the  natural  difficulties  of  the 
proposed  attempt,  partly,  it  may  be,  from  his  own 
personal  feeling  on  the  subject, — held  out  long  and 
strenuously  against  taking  upon  himself  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  step  which  had  liitherto  no  precedent.  Even 
as  lately  as  the  preceding  year,  he  had  resisted  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  a  distinguished  French  scholar  and 
antiquary,  though  armed  with  the  recommendations  of 
his  own  government  and  of  Fuad  Pasha,  then  Turkish 
Commissioner  in  Syria.  The  negotiation  devolved  on 
General  Bruce,  the  Governor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
assisted  by  the  interpreter  of  the  party,  Mr.  Noel 
Moore,  son  of  the  Consul-General  of  Beyrut,  and 
himself  now  the  Consul  at  Jerusalem.  It  may  truly 
be  said,  —  as  it  was  in  enumerating  the  qualifications 
of  the  lamented  General  after  his  death,  —  that  the 
tact  and  firmness  which  he  showed  on  this  occasion 
were  worthy  of  the  first  ranks  of  diplomacy.  Many 
grave  political  difficulties  might,  in  other  and  grander 
spheres,  have  been  unlocked  by  the  dexterity  with 
which  he  gained  admittance  to  the  Mosque  of  Hebron. 
Suraya  Pasha  offered  every  other  civility  or  honor 


I.]  THE   TOMB   OF  DAVID.  167 

that  could  be  paid.  The  General  took  his  position  on 
the  ground,  that  since  the  opening  of  the  other  Holy 
Places,  this  was  the  one  honor  left  for  the  Turkish 
Government  to  award  on  the  rare  occasion  of  a  visit 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  urged,  too,  the  feeling 
with  which  the  request  was  made ;  that  we,  as  well 
as  they,  had  a  common  interest  in  the  Patriarchs  com- 
mon to  both  religions  ;  and  that  nothing  was  claimed 
beyond  what  would  be  accorded  to  Mussulmans  them- 
selves. At  last  the  Pasha  appeared  to  give  w^ay.  But 
a  new  alarm  arose  out  of  a  visit  of  the  Royal  party  to 
the  shrine  commonly  called  the  Tomb  of  David,  in 
Jerusalem. 

The  ''  Tomb  of  David,"  could  it  only  be  ascertained, 
would  be  of  considerable  importance,  not  ^j^g  r^^^^ 
only  on  account  of  its  intrinsic  interest,  but  «f  ^'^^^'i- 
because  it  would  determine  the  disputed  question  of 
the  site  of  Mount  Zion  and  the  City  of  David,  in 
wdiich  the  sepulchre  was  undoubtedly  situated.  And, 
if  discovered  at  all,  it  would  be  capable  of  almost 
certain  identification,  because  as  containing  the  graves 
of  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  Kings  of  Judali,  it 
must  be  a  sepulchral  catacomb  of  considerable  extent. 
The  spot  now  shown  as  the  site  of  the  tomb  is  beneath 
the  ancient  church  claimed  by  Christian  tradition  as 
the  Coenaculiim  or  Upper  Chamber  of  the  Last  Sup- 
per, of  the  Pentecostal  assembly,  of  the  death  of  the 
Virgin,  and  of  the  burial  of  Stephen.  This  spot  is  by 
the  Mussulmans,  —  and  apparently  by  them  alone,  — 
believed  to  be  the  tomb  of  David  and  his  son  Solo- 
mon. Their  belief  rests  on  too  recent  and  too  ques- 
tionable a  foundation  to  be  of  any  substantial  value ; 


168  THE  MOSQUE   OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

and  for  this  reason  no  special  stress  ^  was  laid  on  the 
request  that  it  should  be  made  accessible  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales.  But  on  our  visit  to  the  Chapel  of  the 
"  Coenaculum,"  which  is  shown  to  all  travellers,  there 
seemed  to  be  no  decided  disinclination  to  permitting 
some  approach  to  the  chamber  beneath.  This  accord- 
ingly w^e  saw.  It  is  evidently  the  crypt  of  the  church 
above.  At  the  east  end  of  this  chamber  is  a  recess 
fenced  off  by  an  iron  gate,  through  which  is  visible  a 
cenotaph,  such  as  is  always  found  over  the  graves  of 
Mussulman  saints.  It  is  a  large  coffin-like  structure, 
covered  with  a  green  cloth,  on  Avhich  hangs  the 
inscription,^  ''  O  David,  whom  God  has  made  vicar, 
rule  manldnd  in  truth."  Immediately  in  front  of  the 
shrine  is  a  well.  On  the  south  side  of  the  recess  is  a 
small  window,  and  a  wooden  door.  Over  this  door  is 
an  Arabic  inscription,  "  This  is  the  gate  of  the  garden 
of  Paradise,"  —  which  is  the  usual  designation  of  a 
saint's  tomb,  —  and  the  door,  according  to  the  keepers 
of  the  Mosque,  leads  to  the  cavern  itself,  but  had 
never  been  opened  as  far  back  as  the  memory  of  them- 
selves or  their  forefathers  extended.  It  was  to  this 
door,  which  the  Prince  and  a  few  members  of  his  suite 

1  The  "sepulchre  of  David"  is  mentioned  by  Nehemiah  (iii.  16),  as 
known  after  the  return  from  the  captivity;  and  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
(ii.  29)  and  Jo?ephus  {Ant.  vii.  15,  3;  xiii.  8,  4;  xvi.  7,  1,)  at  the  time  of 
the  Christian  era.  The  last  authentic  mention  of  it  is  in  the  time  of  Ha- 
drian {Dio  Casslus,  Ixix.  14).  For  the  traditions  respecting  it  see  Sinai 
and  Palestine,  c.  xiv.  455;  Williams'  Holy  City,  ii.  505-513. 

2  This  recess  is  described  and  engraved,  M^ith  some  exaggeration,  in  the 
City  of  the  Great  King  (p.  209),  by  the  American  Dr.  Barclay,  from  the 
representation  of  IMiss  Barclay,  who,  by  a  fortunate  accident,  obtained 
admission.  It  is  said  that  she  gained  such  a  celebrity  from  this  sketch  as 
to  be  known  usually  in  her  own  country  by  the  name  of  "  the  Daughter  of 
Zion." 


I.]  THE    TOMB    OF  DAVID.  169 

were  allowed  to  approach  closely,  that  our  attention 
was  chiefly  attracted.  But  the  keepers  were  resolute ; 
the  people  in  the  neighborhood  became  excited ;  the 
excitement  was  increased  by  the  number  of  Europeans 
who  had  been  drawn  to  the  spot  by  the  natural  curi- 
osity of  the  occasion  ;  and  finally,  the  Pasha  himself 
arrived  with  a  troop  of  soldiers,  inspired  by  a  feeling, 
no  doubt,  similar  to  that  which  brought  down  Clau- 
dius Lysias  from  the  fortress  of  Antonia  to  the  court 
of  the  Temple,  in  the  scene  so  forcibly  described  in 
the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles."  ^  A  long  argument 
ensued,  in  which  the  whole  question  was  discussed, 
together  with  the  further  and  more  important  problem 
of  the  admission  to  the  Mosque  of  Hebron.  His 
arguments  were  extremely  characteristic.  "You  did 
not  order  the  pavement  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  to  be  taken  up  ;  yet  if  it  be  really  a  Jew- 
ish tomb,  the  Holy  Sepulchre  must  be  underneath." 
"  When  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet  at  Medinah  needed 
repair,  a  rich  recompense  was  offered  to  any  one  who 
would  go  in  for  the  purpose.  A  man  was  found  bold 
enough  to  make  the  attempt ;  he  went  in  and  repaired 
it ;  and  on  coming  out  was  put  to  death.  That  was 
his  recompense.  This  is  our  sentiment  on  the  subject 
of  opening  the  tombs  of  saints."  "  Even  if  this  or  the 
tomb  of  Hebron  were  open,  I  should  not  go  in ;  I  would 
not  approach  any  one  so  holy  as  Abraham  or  David." 
"  I  will,  if  you  wish,  consult  the  Moollah  or  the  Kadi ; 
but  I  know  beforehand  what  his  answer  will  be." 
The  difficulties  raised  in  this  attempt  naturally  com- 

1  "Tidings  came  unto  the  chief  captain  of  the  band,  that  all  Jerusalem 
was  in  an  uproar:  who  immediately  took  soldiers  and  centurions,  and  ran 
down  unto  them."  —  Acts  xxi.  31,  32. 


170  THE  MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I- 

plicated  the  question,  in  wliicli  the  Prince  was  chiefly- 
interested,  of  the  access  to  Hebron  ;  and  in  the  course 
of  that  evening  the  Pasha  finally  declared  that  the 
responsibility  was  too  grave,  and  that  he  could  not 
undertake  to  guarantee  the  Prince's  safety  from  the 
anger,  either  of  the  population  of  Hebron,  or  of  the 
Patriarchs  themselves,  who  were  always  on  the  watch 
within  their  tombs  to  avenge  any  injury  or  afii'ont  to 
their  sanctity.^ 

It  was  an  anxious  moment.  On  the  one  hand,  there 
was  the  doubt,  now  seriously  raised,  as  to  the  personal 
safety  of  the  attempt,  which  though  it  hardly  entered 
into  the  Prince's  own  calculation,  was  a  paramount 
question  for  those  who  Avere  charged  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  step.  On  the  other  hand  the  point, 
having  been  once  raised,  could  not  be  lightly  laid  aside ; 
the  more  so,  as  it  was  strongly  felt  that  to  allow  of  a 
refusal  in  the  case  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  would 
establish  an  impregnable  precedent  against  future 
relaxations,  and  close  the  doors  of  the  Mosque  more 
firmly  than  ever  against  all  inquirers.  General  Bruce 
adopted  a  course  which  ultimately  proved  successful. 
He  announced  to  the  Pacha  the  extreme  displeasure 
of  the  Prince  at  the  refusal,  and  declared  his  inten- 
tion of  leaving  Jerusalem  instantly  for  the  Dead  Sea ; 
adding  that  if  the  sanctuary  at  Hebron  could  not  be 
entered,  the  Prince  would  decline  to  visit  Hebron  al- 
together.    We   started  immediately  on  a  three  days' 

1  An  illustration  of  this  occurred  on  my  journey  in  1853.  In  visiting  the 
"Tomb  of  the  Prophet  (or  Patriarch)  Seth,"  on  the  Anti-Lebanon,  one  of 
our  party  was  standing  -with  his  back  towards  the  entrance.  "  Tell  him," 
said  the  keeper  of  the  mosque  to  our  dnigoman,  "  that  he  would  not  turn 
his  back  upon  the  Sultan:  why  should  he  not  show  at  least  equal  respect 
to  the  Prophet?  " 


I.]  JOURNEY  TO   THE  DEAD  SEA.  171 

expedition,  the  usual  excursion  to  Bethlehem,  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  Jericho.  It  will  readily  be  supposed 
that  in  this  route  there  is  nothing  to  relate  that  is  not 
familiar  to  every  Eastern  traveller  or  reader  of  Eastern 
travels.  Only  I  may  remark  the  extraor-  Bethlehem, 
dinary  effect  produced  by  the  beauty  of  the  people  of 
Bethlehem  —  of  the  children  especially  —  often  ob- 
served before,  but  not  often  seen  to  such  advantage  as 
then,  when  through  every  broken  wall  or  ruined  win- 
dow of  that  rugged  and  narrow  street,  from  every 
housetop  that  overhung  our  long  cavalcade,  every  face 
in  the  village  was  looking  down  upon  us,  and  every 
face  (it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say)  was  beautiful. 
And  another  impression  not  less  pleasing,  even  if  acci- 
dental, was  the  "  peace  and  good  will  "  which  seemed 
to  prevail  amongst  the  diflPerent  religious  communities 
Greek,  Latin,  Armenian,  which  cluster  round  the 
scene  of  the  Nativity,  contrasted  with  the  jealousies 
and  rivalries,  Greek,  Latin,  Armenian,  Protestant, 
which  rage  round  the  scene  of  the  Sepulchre  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  which  the  visit  of  any  distinguished  person- 
age only  brings  more  clearly  to  light. 

Out  of  the  wide  and  wild  sweep  of  hills  roimd 
Bethlehem,  which  formed  the  cradle  of  the  Psalms  of 
David,  we  passed  into  the  still  wider  and  wilder  sweep 
of  the  hills,  over  which  he  wandered  in  the  years  of 
his  early  manhood.  These  high  upland  regions  are 
indeed  the  "  wilderness  of  Judah "  and,  as  we  rode 
over  their  huge  indulations,  they  were  silent  and  deso- 
late as  the  desert  itself —  till  suddenly  every  barren 
ridge  appeared  bristling  with  groups  of  armed  Arabs. 
For  a  few  moments  there  was  an  expectation  of  attack. 
It  is  this  incident  which  in  foreign  journals  has  been 


172  THE  MOSQUE   OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

transformed  into  the  story  of  the  capture  and  release 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  alarm 
which  the  streaming  pennons  and  spears  of  our  Turk- 
ish escort  had  struck  into  the  Bedouin  tribes,  who, 
being  in  a  state  of  chronic  warfare  with  the  govern- 
ment at  Jerusalem,  imagined  that  a  hostile  assault  was 
intended.  A  few  words  from  one  of  our  partj  who 
rode  forward  to  explain,  dissolved  the  illusion,  and  the 
hills  were  in  a  moment  as  silent  and  as  lifeless  as 
before. 

We  descended  upon  the  magnificent  gorge  of  the 
convent  of  Mar  Saba,  and  in  a  small  platform  in  the 
gorge  found  our  own  tents  pitched.  But  close  beside 
was  a  smaller  encampment,  which  contained  Suraya 
Pasha,  —  nominally,  to  secure  the  Prince's  safe  passage 
through  the  disturbed  Arab  tribes,  but  really  to  reopen 
the  negotiations  about  Hebron.  He  had  followed  us 
by  the  more  direct  route  from  Jerusalem,  and  on  that 
same  evenino;  sent  a  formal  messao-e  offerino-  to  make 
the  attempt,  if  the  numbers  were  limited  to  the  Prince 
and  two  or  three  of  the  suite,  and  promising  to  go 
Return  to  himself  to  Hcbrou  to  prepare  for  the  event. 
Jerusalem,  rpj^jg  proposal  was  guardedly,  but  decisively 
accepted.  The  next  day  we  still  continued  on  our 
march  to  the  Jordan  ;  and  the  third  day  returned  from 
Jericho  to  Jerusalem,  up  the  well-known  ascent  of 
Adummin  —  the  scene  of  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,^  and  cauo;ht  the  view  of  the  citv  from  the 
memorable  point  on  the  road  of  our  Lord's  triumphal 
entry.  The  whole  cavalcade  halted  at  that  long  ledge 
of  rock,  where  "  He  beheld  the  city  and  wept  over 
it."  2     Before  us  lay  the   view,  still  splendid,  of  the 

1  See  Sinai  awd  Palestine,  c.  xiii.  424.  2  jj^id,  c.  iii.  192. 


I.]  APPROACH  TO  HEBRON.  173 

Mosque  of  Omar,  the  Temple  platform,  the  broken 
outline  of  Jerusalem,  the  deep  ravine  of  the  Keclron. 
Behind  us  lay  Mount  Olivet,  its  "  stones,"  ^  its  "  olive- 
trees,"  its  "  fig-trees,"^  — even  the  flock  of  the  black 
"  goats  "  and  white  "  sheep,"  ^  which  at  that  moment 
followed  their  shepherd  over  the  slope  of  the  hill, —  all 
full  of  the  Divine  teaching,  by  which  every  portion  of 
its  ruo-o'cd  sides  has  been  consecrated. 

CO 

Our  return  w^as  on  the  Saturday  evening.  On 
Sunday  the  Prince  attended  Divine  Service  in  the 
English  Church,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  was  quietly 
spent  in  Jerusalem.  Early  on  the  morning  of  Monday 
the  7th  of  April,  we  left  our  encampment,  and  moved 
in  a  southerly  direction.  The  object  of  our  journey 
was  mentioned  to  no  one.  On  our  way  we  were 
joined  by  Dr.  Rosen,  the  Prussian  Consul  at  Jerusalem, 
well  known  to  travellers  in  Palestine,  from  his  profound 
knowledge  of  sacred  geography,  and  in  this  instance, 
doubly  valuable  as  a  companion,  from  the  special  atten- 
tion which  he  had  paid  to  the  topography  of  Hebron  ^ 
and  its  neighborhood.  Before  our  arrival  at  Hebron, 
the  Pasha  had  made  every  preparation  to  insure  the 
safety  of  the  experiment.  What  he  feared  was,  no 
doubt,  a  random  shot  or  stone  from  some  individual 
fanatic,  who  might  have  held  his  life  cheap  at  the  cost 
of  avenging  what  he  thought  an  outrage  on  the  sancti- 
ties of  his  religion.  Against  Indian  pilgrims,  who  are 
well  known  to  hang  about  these  sacred  places,  we  had 
been  especially  warned,  and  one  or  two  such  we  did 
in  fact  meet  on  our  way  and  on  our  return.     Accord- 

1  Luke  xix.  40.  2  Matt.  xxi.  19 ;  xxiv.  32. 

3  Matt.  XXV.  32. 

4  See  his  two  Essays  in  the  Zeiischrift  der  Morgenldndischen  GesellscJiqft, 
xi.  50;  xii.  489. 


174  THE   MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

inglj,  as  the  protracted  file  wound  through  the  narrow 
valley  by  which  the  town  of  Hebron  is  approached, 
underneath  the  walls  of  those  vineyards  on  the  hill- 
sides, which  have  made  the  vale  of  Eschol  immortal, 
the  whole  road  on  either  side  for  more  than  a  mile  was 
lined  with  soldiers.  The  native  population,  which 
usually,  on  the  Prince's  approach  to  a  town,  streamed 
The  Ap-  out  to  meet  him,  was  invisible,  it  may  be  fron 
proach.  compulsion,  it  may  be  from  silent  indignation 
We  at  length  reached  the  green  sward  in  front  of  the 
town,  crowned  by  the  Quarantine  and  the  Governor's 
residence.  There  Suraya  Pasha  received  us.  It  had 
been  arranged,  in  accordance  with  the  Pasha's  limitation 
of  the  numbers,  that  His  Royal  Highness  should  be  ac- 
companied, besides  the  General,  by  the  two  members  of 
the  party  who  had  given  most  attention  to  Biblical  pur- 
suits, so  as  to  make  it  evident  that  the  visit  was  not  one 
of  mere  curiosity,  but  had  also  a  distinct  scientific  pur- 
pose. It  was,  however,  finally  conceded  by  the  Gover- 
nor, that  the  whole  of  the  suite  should  be  included, 
amounting  to  seven  persons  besides  the  Prince.  The 
servants  remained  behind.  We  started  on  foot,  two  and 
two,  between  two  files  of  soldiers,  by  the  ancient  pool  of 
Hebron,  up  the  narrow  streets  of  the  modern  town, 
still  lined  with  soldiers.  Hardly  a  face  was  visible  as 
we  passed  through  ;  only  here  and  there  a  solitary  guard, 
stationed  at  a  vacant  window,  or  on  the  flat  roof  of  a  pro- 
jecting house,  evidently  to  guarantee  the  safety  of  the 
party  from  any  chance  missile.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  com- 
plete military  occupation  of  the  town.  At  length  we 
reached  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  massive  wall 
of  enclosure,  the  point  at  which  inquiring  travellers 
from    generation   to   generation    have   been   checked 


I.]  THE  MOSQUE.  175 

in  their  approach  to  this,  the  most  ancient  and  the 
most  authentic  of  all  the  Holj  Places  of  the  Holy 
Land.  "  Here,"  said  Dr.  Rosen,  "  was  the  farthest 
limit  of  my  researches."  Up  the  steep  flight  of  the  ex- 
terior staircase,  —  gazing  close  at  hand  on  the  polished 
surface  of  the  wall,  amplyjustifyingJosephus's  account 
of  the  marble-like  appearance  of  the  huge  stones  which 
compose  it,  —  we  rapidly  mounted.  At  the  head  of  the 
staircase,  which  by  its  long  ascent  showed  that  the 
platform  of  the  Mosque  was  on  the  uppermost  slope  of 
the  hill,  and  therefore  above  the  level  where,  if  any- 
where, the  sacred  cave  would  be  found,  a  sharp  turn  at 
once  brought  us  within  the  precincts,  and  revealed  to 
us  for  the  first  time  the  wall  from  the  inside.  A  later 
wall  of  Mussulman  times  has  been  built  on  the  top  of 
the  Jewish  enclosure.  The  enclosure  itself,  as  seen 
from  the  inside,  rises  but  a  few  feet  above  the  platform.^ 

Here  we  were  received  with  much  ceremony  by  five 
or  six  persons,  corresponding  to  the  Dean  and  The  Entrance 
Canons  of  a  Christian  cathedral.     They  were  Mosque. 
the  representatives  of  the  Forty  hereditary  guardians 
of  the  Mosque. 

We  passed  at  once  through  an  open  court  into  the 
Mosque.  With  regard  to  the  building  itself.  The  Mosque, 
two  points  at  once  became  apparent.  First,  it  was 
clear  that  it  had  been  originally  a  Byzantine  church. 
To  any  one  acquainted  with  the  cathedral  of  S. 
Sophia  at  Constantinople,  and  with  the  monastic 
churches  of  Mount  Athos,  this  is  evident  from  the 
double  narthex  or  portico,  and  from  the  four  pillars 

1  The  expression  of  kvc\\\?  {Fxirhj  Travellers,  p.  7),  that  the  precinct  was 
surrounded  by  a  low  wall  (humiU  muro)  might  be  explained  if  we  suppose 
that  he  was  speaking  of  it  as  seen  from  the  inside. 


176  THE   MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

of  the  nave.  Secondly,  it  was  clear  that  it  had  been 
converted  at  a  much  later  period  into  a  mosque.  This 
is  indicated  by  the  pointed  arches,  and  by  the  trunca- 
tion of  the  apsis.  The  transformation  was  said  by  the 
guardians  of  the  Mosque  to  have  been  made  by  Sultan 
Kelaoun.  The  whole  building  occupies  (to  speak 
roughly)  one  third  of  the  platform..  The  windows  are 
sufficiently  high  to  be  visible  from  without,  above  the 
top  of  the  enclosing  wall. 

I  now  proceed  to  describe  the  Tombs  of  the  Pa- 
The  Shrines    triarclis,  premisiuo;  always  that  these  tombs, 

of  the  -.-,  n        1  •         TT  1  1 

Patriarchs,  like  all  tliosc  \\\  Mussulman  mosques,  and 
indeed  like  most  tombs  in  Christian  churches,  do 
not  profess  to  be  the  actual  places  of  sepulture,  but 
are  merely  monuments  or  cenotaj^hs  in  honor  of  the 
dead  who  lie  beneath.  Each  is  enclosed  within  a 
separate  chapel  or  shrine,  closed  with  gates  or  railings 
similar  to  those  which  surround  or  enclose  the  private 
chapels  or  royal  tombs  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The 
two  first  of  these  shrines  or  chapels  are  contained  in 
the  inner  portico  or  narthex,  before  the  entrance  into 
the  actual  building  of  the  Mosque.  In  the  recess 
on  the  rio-ht  is  the  shrine  of  Abraham,  in  the  recess  on 
the  left  that  of  Sarah,  each  guarded  by  silver  gates. 
The  Shrine  ^^^^  shriuc  of  Sarah  we  were  requested  not  to 
of  Sarah.  enter,  as  being  that  of  a  Avoman.  A  pall  lay 
over  it.  The  shrine  of  Abraham,  after  a  momentary 
^^  ^^  .        hesitation    was    thrown    open.      The    PTiard- 

The  Shrine        ^  i  fe 

of  Abraham,  j^ns  groaucd  aloud.  But  their  chief  turned 
to  us  with  the  remark,  "  The  princes  of  any  other 
nation  should  have  passed  over  my  dead  body  sooner 
than  enter.  But  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  Queen  of 
England  we  are  willing  to  accord  even  this  privilege.'* 


I.]        SHRINES  OF  ABRAHAM  AND  REBEKAH.    177 

He  stepped  in  before  us,  and  offered  an  ejaculatory 
prayer  to  the  dead  Patriarch,  "  Oh,  Friend  of  God, 
forgive  this  intrusion."  We  then  entered.  The  cham- 
ber is  cased  in  marble.  The  so-called  tomb  consists  of 
a  coffin-like  structure,  about  six  feet  high,  built  up  of 
plastered  stone  or  marble,  and  hung  with  three  car- 
pets,^ green  embroidered  with  gold.  They  are  said  to 
have  been  presented  by  Mohamed  II.  the  conqueror 
of  Constantinople,  Selim  I.  the  conqueror  of  Egypt, 
and  the  late  Sultan  Abdul  Mejid.  Fictitious  as  the 
actual  structure  was,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel  a 
thrill  of  unusual  emotion  at  standing  on  such  a  spot,^ 
an  emotioh  enhanced  by  the  rare  occasion  which  had 
opened  the  gates  of  that  consecrated  place,  as  the 
guardian  of  the  Mosque  kept  repeating  to  us,  as  we 
stood  round  the  tomb,  "to  no  one  less  than  the  rep- 
resentative of  Eno'Iand." 

o 

Within  the  area  of  the  church  or  mosque  were 
shown  the  tombs  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah.  They  are 
placed  under  separate  chapels,  in  the  walls  of  which 
are  windows,  and  of  which  the  gates  are  grated  not 
with  silver  but  iron  bars.  Their  situation,  planted  as 
they  are  in  the  body  of  the  Mosque,  may  indicate  their 
Christian  origin.  In  almost  all  Mussulman  sanctuaries, 
the  tombs  of  distinguished  persons  are  placed,  not  in 
the  centre  of  the  building,  but  in  the  corners.^  To 
Rebekah's  tomb  the  same  decorous  rule  of  the  rj^^  p|,„.j,g 
exclusion  of  male  visitors  naturally  applied  as  °^  Rebekah. 
in  the  case  of  Sarah's.     But  on  requesting  to  see  the 

1  In  Ali  Bey's  time  there  were  nine  carpets. —  Travels,  ii.  233. 

2  The  arrangement,  however,  described  by  Arculf  is  somewhat  different. 
He  speaks  of  the  bodies  (probably  meaning  the  tombs)  lying  north  aad 
south,  under  slabs  of  stone.  The  tombs  of  the  wives  he  also  describes  as 
apart,  and  of  a  meaner  construction.  —  Early  Travellers,  p.  7. 

12 


178  THE  MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

tomb  of  Isaac,  we  were  entreated  not  to  enter ;  and  on 
The  Shrine  asking,  witli  some  surprise,  why  an  objection 
of  Isaac.  which  had  been  conceded  for  Abraham  should 
be  raised  in  the  case  of  his  far  less  eminent  son,  were 
answered  that  the  difference  lay  m  the  characters  of 
the  two  Patriarchs,  —  "  Abraham  was  fall  of  loving- 
kindness  ;  he  had  withstood  even  the  resolution  of  God 
against  Sodom  and  Gomorrah ;  he  was  goodness  itself, 
and  would  overlook  any  affront.  But  Isaac  was  pro- 
verbially jealous,  and  it  was  exceedingly  dangerous  to 
exasperate  him.  When  Ibrahim  Pasha  (as  conqueror 
of  Palestine)  had  endeavored  to  enter,  he  had  been 
driven  out  by  Isaac,  and  fell  back  as  if  thunderstruck." 

The  chapel,  in  fact,  contains  nothing  of  interest ; 
but  I  mention  this  story  ^  both  for  the  sake  of  the 
singular  sentiment  which  it  expresses,  and  also  because 
it  well  illustrates  the  peculiar  feeling  which  has  tended 
to  preserve  the  sanctity  of  the  place,  —  an  awe  amount- 
ing to  terror,  of  the  great  personages  who  lay  beneath, 
and  Avho  would,  it  was  supposed,  be  sensitive  to  any 
disrespect  shown  to  their  graves,  and  revenge  it  ac- 
cordingly. 

The  shrines  of  Jacob  and  Leah  were  shown  in  re- 
The  Shrine  ccsscs  correspoucHng  to  those  of  Abraham  and 
of  Leah  Sarah,  —  but  in  a  separate  cloister,  opposite 
the  entrance  of  the  Mosque.  Against  Leah's  tomb,  as 
seen  through  the  iron  gate,  two  green  banners  rechned, 
the  origin  and  meaning  of  which  was  unknown.  They 
are  placed  in  the  pulpit  on  Fridays.  The  gates  of 
The  Shrine  J^cob's  tomb  wcrc  Opened  without  difficulty, 
of  Jacob.  though  with  a  deep  groan  from  the  bystanders. 
There  was  some  good  painted  glass  in  one  of  the  win- 
1 1  have  been  unable  to  discover  the  origin  of  this  legend. 


L]  THE    SHRINE    OF  JOSEPH.  179 

dows.  The  structure  was  of  the  same  kmd  as  that  in 
the  shrine  of  Abraham,  but  with  carpets  of  a  coarser 
texture.     Else  it  calls  for  no  special  remark. 

Thus  far  the  monuments  of  the  Mosque  adhere 
strictly  to  the  Biblical  account  as  given  above.  This 
is  the  more  remarkable,  because  in  these  particulars 
the  agreement  is  beyond  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  a  Mussulman  sanctuary.  The  prominence 
given  to  Isaac,  whilst  in  entire  accordance  with  the 
Sacred  narrative,  is  against  the  tenor  of  Mussulman 
tradition,  which  exalts  Ishmael  into  the  first  place. 
And,  in  like  conformity  with  the  Sacred  narrative,  but 
unlike  what  we  should  have  expected,  had  mere  fancy 
been  allowed  full  play,  is  the  exclusion  of  the  famous 
Rachel,  and  the  inclusion  of  the  insignificant  Leah. 

The  variation  which  follows  rests,  as  I  am  informed 
by  Dr.  Rosen,  on  the  general  tradition  of  the  country 
(justified,  perhaps,  by  an  ambiguous  expression  of 
Josephus  ^)  that  the  body  of  Joseph,  after  having  been 
deposited  first  at  Shechem,  was  subsequently  r^'^^  ^\ame 
transported  to  Hebron.  But  the  pecuhar  sit-  ""^  ^'''^'^^• 
uation  of  this  alleged  tomb  agrees  with  the  exceptional 

1  "  The  bodies  of  the  brothers  of  Joseph  after  a  time  were  buried  by  their 
descendants  in  Hebron;  but  the  bones  of  Joseph  afterwards,  when  the  He- 
brews migrated  fi'om  Egypt,  were  taken  to  Canaan."  —  Ant.  ii.  8,  2.  This 
may  be  intended  merely  to  draw  a  distinction  as  to  the  time  of  removal, 
but  probably  it  refers  also  to  a  difference  in  the  places  of  burial,  and  ex- 
presses nothing  positive  on  the  subject.  In  Acts  vii.  15,  16,  the  sons  of 
Jacob  are  represented  as  all  equally  buried  at  Shechem ;  but  then  it  is  with 
the  perplexing  addition  that  they  were  buried  in  the  same  place  as  Jacob, 
and  "  in  the  sepulchre  that  Abraham  bought  for  a  sum  of  money  from  the 
sons  of  Emmor  the  father  of  Shechem."  The  burial  of  Joseph  at  Shechem 
is  distinctly  mentioned  in  Josh.  xxiv.  32.  "  The  bones  of  Joseph,  which 
the  children  of  Israel  brought  up  out  of  Eg}^t,  buried  they  in  Shechem,  in 
'  the  parcel  of  the  Jield'  which  Jacob  bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor  the  father 
of  Shechem  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  silver;  and  it  became  the  inheritance 
of  the  sons  of  Joseph." 


180  THE   MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

character  of  the  tradition.  It  is  in  a  domed  chamber 
attached  to  the  enclosure  from  the  outside,  and  reached, 
therefore,  by  an  aperture  ^  broken  through  the  massive 
wall  itself,  and  thus  visible  on  the  exterior  of  the 
southern  side  of  the  wall.  It  is  less  costly  than  the 
others,  and  it  is  remarkable  that,  although  the  name 
of  his  wife  (according  to  the  Mussulman  version,  Zu- 
leika)  is  inserted  in  the  certificates  given  to  pilgrims 
who  have  visited  the  Mosque,  no  grave  having  that 
appellation  is  shown.  A  staff  was  hung  up  in  a  corner 
of  the  chamber.  There  were  painted  windoAvs  as  m 
the  shrine  of  Jacob.  According  to  the  story  told  by 
the  guardian  of  the  Mosque,  Joseph  was  buried  in  the 
Nile,  and  Moses  recovered  the  body,  1005  years  after- 
wards, by  marrying  an  Egyptian  wife  who  knew  the 
secret. 

No  other  tombs  were  exhibited  inside  the  Mosque. 
In  a  mosque  on  the  northern  side  of  the  great  Mosque 
were  two  shrines,  resembling  those  of  Isaac  and  Re- 
bekah,  which  were  afterwards  explained  to  us  as  mere- 
ly ornamental.  On  a  platform  immediately  outside  the 
Jewish  wall  on  the  north  side,  and  seen  from  the  hill 
rising  immediately  to  the  northeast  of  the  Mosque,  is 
The  Mosque    ^^^^  domo  of  a  mosquc  named  JaivaliyeJi^  said 

of  Jawali.  ^Q    l^^^g    l^ggj^    l^^jj^    ^y    ^l^g    -gj^-j,  ^^^^    gj^-^ 

Sanjar  Jawali,  from  whom,  of  course,  it  derives  its 
name,  in  the  place  of  the  tomb  of  Judas,  or  Judah, 
which  he  caused  to  be  destroyed.^ 

These  are  the  only  variations  from  the  catalogue  of 
tombs  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.     In  the  fourth  century, 

1  This  aperture  was  made  by  Dahar  Barkok,  A.  d.  1382-1389.  —  Quatre- 
m^re,  247. 

2  A.  D.  1319, 1320.  —  Quatrem^re,  i.  part  ii.  p.  248. 


I.]  THE   MOSQUE    OF   JAW  ALL  181 

the  Bourdeaux  Pilgrim  saw  only  the  six  great  patri- 
archal shrines.  But  from  the  seventh  century  clown- 
wards,  one  or  more  lesser  tombs  seem  to  have  been 
shown.  Arculf  speaks  of  the  tomb  of  Adam,^  "  which 
is  of  meaner  workmanship  than  the  rest,  and  lies  not 
far  off  from  them  at  the  farthest  extremity  to  the 
north."  If  we  might  take  this  direction  of  the  com- 
pass to  be  correct,  he  must  mean  either  "  the  tomb  of 
Judah "  or  one  of  the  two  in  the  northern  mosque. 
This  latter  conjecture  is  confirmed  by  the  statement  of 
Maundeville  that  the  tombs  ^  of  Adam  and  Eve  were 
shown  ;  which  would  thus  correspond  to  these  two. 
The  tomb  of  Joseph  is  first  distinctly  mentioned  by 
Saswulf,  who  says  that  "  the  bones  of  Joseph  were 
buried  more  humbly  than  the  rest,  as  it  were  at  the 
extremity  of  the  castle."  ^  Mr.  Monro  describes  fur- 
ther "  a  tomb  of  Esau,  under  a  small  cupola,  with 
eight  or  ten  windows,  excluded  from  l}^ng  with  the 
rest  of  the  Patriarchs."  *  Whether  by  this  he  meant 
the  tomb  of  Joseph,  or  the  tomb  of  Judah,  is  not  clear. 
A  INIussulman  tomb  of  Esau  was  shown  in  the  suburb 
of  Hebron  called  Sir.^ 

The  tomb  of  Abner  is  shown  in  the  town,  and  the 
tomb  of  Jesse  on  the  hill  facing  Hebron  on  the  south. 

1  The  tomb  of  Adam  was  shown  as  the  "  Fourth"  of  the  "  Four,"  who, 
with  the  three  Patriarchs,  were  supposed  to  have  given  to  Hebron' the  name 
of  Kirjath-Arba,  "  the  city  of  the  Four."  By  a  strange  mistake  which 
Jerome  has  perpetuated  in  the  Vulgate  translation,  the  word  Adam  in 
Joshua  xxiv.  15,  ''  a  great  man  among  the  Anakims,"  has  been  taken  by 
some  of  the  Rabbis  as  a  proper  name.  "  Adam  maximus  ibi  inter  Enacim 
situs  est." 

2  Maundeville  {Earhi  Travellers,  p.  161). 

3  A.  u.  1102  {Early  Travellers,  p.  45). 
.   •*  Summer  Ramble,  i.  243. 

5  Quatrem^re,  i.  pt.  ii.  p.  319.  Probably  Sirah,  the  scene  of  the  murder 
of  Abner,  2  Sam.  iii.  26. 


182  THE   MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

But  these  have  no  connection  with  the  Mosque,  or  the 
patriarchal  burying-place. 

We  have  now  gone  through  all  the  shrines,  whether 
of  real  or  fictitious  importance,  which  the  Sanctuary- 
includes.  It  will  be  seen  that  up  to  this  point  no 
The  Sacred  mention  lias  been  made  of  the  subject  of  the 
Cave.  greatest   interest,    namely,   the    sacred    cave 

itself,  in  which  one  at  least  of  the  patriarchal  family 
may  possibly  still  repose  intact,  —  the  embalmed  body 
of  Jacob.  It  may  be  well  supposed  that  to  this  object 
our  inquiries  were  throughout  directed.  One  indica- 
tion alone  of  the  cavern  beneath  was  visible.  In  the 
interior  of  the  Mosque,  at  the  corner  of  the  shrine  of 
Abraham,  was  a  small  circular  hole,  about  eight  inches 
across,  of  which  one  foot  above  the  pavement  was  built 
of  strong  masonry,  but  of  which  the  lower  part,  as  far 
as  we  could  see  and  feel,  was  of  the  living  rock.^  This 
cavity  appeared  to  open  into  a  dark  space  beneath, 
and  that  space  (which  the  guardians  of  the  Mosque 
beheved  to  extend  under  the  whole  platform)  can 
hardly  be  anything  else  than  the  ancient  cavern  of 
Machpelah.  This  was  the  only  aperture  which  the 
guardians  recognized.     Once,  they  said,   2,500  years 

1  This  hole  was  not  shown  to  Ali  Bey,  perhaps  as  heing  only  an  ordinary 
pilgrim.  It  is  tlius  described  by  Mr.  Monro  or  his  informant:  —"A  bal- 
dachin, supported  on  four  small  columns  over  an  octagon  figure  of  black  and 
white  inlaid,  round  a  small  hole  in  the  pavement"  (i.  264).  It  is  also  men- 
tioned by  the  Arab  historians.  "  There  is  a  vault  that  passes  for  the  burial- 
place  of  Abraham,  in  which  is  a  lamp  always  lighted.  Hence  the  common 
expression  among  the  people,  '  the  Lord  of  the  vault  and  the  lamp'' "  (Qua- 
tremere,  i.  pt.  ii.  p.  247).  "  Near  the  tomb  of  Abraham  is  a  vault,  where  is 
a  small  gate  leading  to  the  minhar  (pulpit).  Into  this  hole  once  fell  an 
idiot,  who  was  followed  by  the  servants  of  the  Mosque.  They  saw  a  stone 
staircase  of  fifteen  steps,  which  led  to  the  minhar''  {Ibid.).  The  lamp  is  also 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Monro  (i.  p.  244),  and  by  Benjamin  of  Tudela  (see 
in/m,  p.  185). 


L]  THE    CAVE.  183 

ago,  a  servant  of  a  great  king  had  penetrated  tlirougli 
some  other  entrance.  He  descended  in  foil  possession 
of  his  faculties,  and  of  remarkable  corpulence ;  he  re- 
turned blind,  deaf,  withered,  and  crippled.  Since  then 
the  entrance  was  closed,  and  this  aperture  alone  was 
left,  partly  for  the  sake  of  allowing  the  holy  air  of  the 
cave  to  escape  into  the  Mosque,  and  be  scented  by  the 
faithful ;  partly  for  the  sake  of  allowing  a  lamp  to  be 
let  down  by  a  chain  which  we  saw  suspended  at  the 
mouth,  to  burn  upon  the  sacred  grave.  We  asked 
whether  it  could  not  be  lighted  now?  "No,"  they 
said ;  "  the  saint  likes  to  have  a  lamp  at  night,  but  not 
in  the  full  daylight." 

With  that  glimpse  into  the  dark  void  we  and  the 
world  without  must  for  the  present  be  satisfied. 
Whether  any  other  entrance  is  known  to  the  Mussul- 
mans themselves,  must  be  a  matter  of  doubt.  The 
original  entrance  to  the  cave,  if  it  is  now  to  be  found 
at  all,  must  probably  be  on  the  southern  face  of  the 
hill,  between  the  Mosque  and  the  gallery  containing 
the  shrine  of  Joseph,  and  entirely  obstructed  by  the 
ancient  Jewish  wall,  probably  built  across  it  for  this 
very  purpose. 

It  seems  to  our  notions  almost  incredible  that  Chris- 
tians and  Mussulmans,  each  for  a  period  of  600  years, 
should  have  held  possession  of  the  sanctuary,  and  not 
had  the  curiosity  to  explore  what  to  us  is  the  one 
object  of  interest,  —  the  cave.  But  the  fact  is  un- 
doubted that  no  account  exists  of  any  such  attempt. 
Such  a  silence  can  only  be  explained  (but  it  is  proba- 
bly a  sufficient  explanation)  by  the  indifference  which 
prevailed,  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  to  any  histori- 
cal spots  however  interesting,  unless  they  were  actually 


184  THE   MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

consecrated  as  places  of  pilgrimage.  Tlie  Mount  of 
Olives,  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  the  Rock 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  itself,  were  not  thought  worthy 
of  even  momentary  consideration,  in  comparison  with 
the  chapels  and  stations  which  were  the  recognized 
objects  of  devotion.  Thus  at  Hebron  a  visit  to  the 
shrines,  both  for  Christians  and  Mussulmans,  procures 
a  certificate.  The  cave  had  therefore  no  further  value. 
In  the  case  of  the  Mussulmans  this  indifference  is  still 
more  general.  Suraya  Pasha  himself,  a  man  of  con- 
siderable intelligence,  professed  that  he  had  never 
thought  of  visiting  the  Mosque  of  Hebron  for  any 
other  purpose  than  that  of  snuffing  the  sacred  air,  and 
he  had  never,  till  we  arrived  at  Jerusalem,  seen  the 
wonderful  convent  of  Mar  Saba,  or  the  Dead  Sea,  or 
the  Jordan.  And  to  this  must  be  added,  if  not  in  his 
case,  in  that  of  Mussulmans  generally,  the  terror  which 
they  entertain  of  the  effect  of  the  wrath  of  the  Patri- 
archs on  any  one  who  should  intrude  into  the  place 
where  they  are  supposed  still  to  be  in  a  kmd  of  sus- 
pended animation.  As  far  back  as  the  seventeenth 
century  it  was  firmly  believed  that  if  any  Mussulman 
entered  the  cavern,  immediate  death  would  be  the 
consequence. -"^ 

It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that  two  accounts 
are  reported  of  travellers  having  obtained  a  nearer 
view  of  the  cave  than  was  accomplished  in  the  visit  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales. 

The  first  is  contained  in  the  pilgrimage  of  Benjamin 
of  Tudela,  the  Jewish  traveller  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury :  — ''  The  Gentiles  have  erected  six  sepulchres  in 
this  place,  which  they  pretend  to  be  those  of  Abraham 

1  Quaresmius,  ii.  772. 


I.]  THE   CAVE.  185 

and  Sarah,  Isaac  and  Rebekah,  Jacob  and  Leah.  The 
pilgrims  are  told  that  they  are  the  sepulchres  of  the 
fathers,  and  money  is  extorted  from  them.  But  if  any 
Jew  comes,  who  gives  an  additional  fee  to  the  keeper 
of  the  cave,  an  iron  door  is  opened,  which  dates  from 
the  time  of  our  forefathers  who  rest  in  peace,  and 
with  a  burnino"  candle  in  his  hands,  the  visitor  descends 
into  a  first  cave,  which  is  empty,  traverses  a  second  in 
the  same  state,  and  at  last  reaches  a  third,  which  con- 
tains six  sepulchres,  those  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  and  of  Sarah,  Rebekah,  and  Leah,  one  opposite 
the  other.  All  these  sepulchres  bear  inscriptions,  the 
letters  being  engraved.  Thus,  upon  that  of  Abraham 
we  read,  —  '  This  is  the  sepulchre  of  our  father  Abra- 
ham ;  upon  whom  be  peace,'  and  so  on  that  of  Isaac, 
and  upon  all  the  other  sepulchres.  A  lamp  burns  in 
the  cave  and  upon  the  sepulchres  continually,  both 
night  and  day,  and  you  there  see  tombs  filled  with 
the  bones  of  Israelites,  —  for  unto  this  day  it  is  a  cus- 
tom of  the  house  of  Israel  to  bring  hither  the  bones 
of  their  saints  and  of  their  forefathers,  and  to  leave 
them  there." 

In  this  account,^  which,  as  may  be  observed,  does 
not  profess  to  describe  Benjamin's  own  experience, 
there  are  two  circumstances  (besides  its  general  improb- 
ability) which  throw  considerable  doubt  on  its  accu- 
racy. One  is  the  mention  of  inscriptions,  and  of  an 
iron  door,  which,  as  is  well  known,  are  never  found  in 
Jewish  sepulchres.     The  other  is  the  mention  of  the 

1  A  somewhat  similar  account  is  given  by  Moawiyeh  Ishmail,  Prince  of 
Aleppo, —  that  in  A.  d.  1089  the  tombs  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  were 
found;  that  many  persons  saw  the  bodies,  preserved  without  change,  and 
that  in  the  cavern  were  arranged  lamps  of  gold  and  silver  (Quatremere, 
245). 


186  THE  MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

practice  of  Jews  sending  their  bones  to  be  buried  in  a 
place,  which,  as  is  evident  from  the  rest  of  the  narra- 
tive, could  only  be  entered  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 

The  second  account  is  that  of  M.  Ermete  Pierotti, 
who,  having  been  an  engineer  in  the  Sardinian  army, 
M.  Ermete  actcd  for  somc  ycars  as  architect  and  engi- 
Pierotti.  j^ggj,  ^Q  Suraya  Pasha,  at  Jerusalem,  and 
thus  obtained,  both  in  that  city  and  at  Hebron, 
access  to  places  otherwise  closed  to  Europeans.  The 
following  account  appeared  in  the  ''  Times  "  of  April  30, 
1862,  immediately  following  on  the  announcement  of 
the  Prince's  visit :  — 

"  The  true  entrance  to  the  Patriarchs'  tomb  is  to  be 
seen  close  to  the  western  wall  of  the  enclosure,  and 
near  the  northwest  corner ;  it  is  guarded  by  a  very 
thick  iron  railing,  and  I  was  not  allowed  to  go  near  it. 
I  observed  that  the  Mussulmans  themselves  did  not  go 
very  near  it.  In  the  court  opposite  the  entrance- 
gate  of  the  Mosque,  there  is  an  opening,  through 
which  I  was  allowed  to  go  down  for  three  steps,  and  I 
was  able  to  ascertain  by  sight  and  touch  that  the 
rock  exists  there,  and  to  conclude  it  to  be  about  five 
feet  thick.  From  the  short  observations  I  could  make 
during  my  brief  descent,  as  also  from  the  consideration 
of  the  east  wall  of  the  Mosque,  and  the  little  informa- 
tion I  extracted  from  the  Chief  Santon,  who  jealously 
guards  the  sanctuary,  I  consider  that  a  part  of  the 
grotto  exists  under  the  Mosque,  and  that  the  other 
part  is  under  the  court,  but  at  a  lower  level  than  that 
lying  under  the  Mosque.  This  latter  must  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  former  by  a  vertical  stratum  of  rock 
which  contains  an  opening,  as  I  conclude,  for  two 
reasons :    first,  because  the  east   wall  being  entirely 


I.]  THE    CAVE.  187 

solid  and  massive,  requires  a  good  foundation ;  secondly, 
because  the  petitions  which  the  Mussulmans  present  to 
the  Santon  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Patriarchs  are 
thrown,  some  through  one  opening,  some  through  the 
other,  according  to  the  Patriarch  to  whom  they  are 
directed  ;  and  the  Santon  goes  down  by  the  way  I 
went,  whence  I  suppose  that  on  that  side  there  is  a 
vestibule,  and  that  the  tombs  may  be  found  below  it. 
I  explained  my  conjectures  to  the  Santon  himself  after 
leaving  the  Mosque,  and  he  showed  himself  very  much 
surprised  at  the  time,  and  told  the  Pacha  afterwards 
that  I  knew  more  about  it  than  the  Turks  themselves. 
The  fact  is,  that  even  the  Pacha  who  governs  the 
province  has  no  right  to  penetrate  into  the  sacred 
enclosure,  where  (according  to  the  Mussulman  legend) 
the  Patriarchs  are  living,  and  only  condescend  to 
receive  the  petitions  addressed  to  them  by  mortals."  ^ 

This  statement  of  the  entrance  of  the  Santon,  or 
Sheik  of  the  Mosque,  into  the  cave,  agrees  with  the 
account  which  was  given  to  me  at  Hebron  in  1852; 
"  that  the  cave  consists  of  two  compartments,  into  one 
of  which  a  dervish  or  sheik  is  allowed  to  penetrate 
on  special  emergencies."  Against  this  must  be  set 
the  repeated  assertions  of  the  guardian  of  the  Mosque, 
and  of  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem,  (which,  as  has 
been  seen,  are  substantially  confirmed  by  the  Arab 
historians,)  that  no  Mussulman  has  ever  entered  the 
cave  within  the  memory  of  man      Of  the   staii'case 

1  M.  Pierotti  adds  (what  has  often  been  observed  before)  that  "  the  Jews 
who  dwell  in  Hebron,  or  visit  it,  are  allowed  to  kiss  and  touch  a  piece  of 
the  sacred  rock  close  to  the  northwest  corner,  which  they  can  reach 
through  a  small  aperture.  To  accomplish  this  operation  they  are  obhged 
to  lie  flat  on  the  ground,  because  the  aperture  is  on  the  ground  level." 
This,  however,  is  merely  an  access  to  the  rock,  not  to  the  cave. 


188  THE   MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I. 

and  gate  described  by  M.  Pierotti,  there  was  no 
appearance  on  our  visit,  though  we  must  have  walked 
over  the  very  spot,  —  being,  in  fact,  the  pavement  in 
front  of  the  Mosque.  Of  the  separate  apertures  for 
throwing  down  the  petitions  we  also  saw  nothing. 
And  it  would  seem  from  Finati's  account,  ^  that  the 
one  hole  down  which  he  threw  his  petition  was  that 
by  the  tomb  of  Abraham. 

The  result  of  the  Prince's  visit  will  have  been  dis- 
appointing to  those  who  expected  a  more  direct 
Results  of      solution    of  tlic  uivsteries  of  Hebron.     But 

the  Prince's      .  "^  .         .      , . 

visit.  it   has    not    been  without  its  indirect   bene- 

fits. In  the  first  place,  by  the  entrance  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  the  first  step  has  been  taken  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  bar  of  exclusion  from  this  most  sacred 
and  interesting  spot.  The  relaxation  may  in  future 
times  be  slight  and  gradual,  and  the  advantage  gained 
must  be  used  with  every  caution  ;  but  it  is  impossible 
not  to  feel  that  some  effect  will  be  produced  even  on 
the  devotees  of  Hebron  when  they  feel  that  the 
Patriarchs  have  not  sufiered  any  injury  or  afii^ont,  and 
that  even  Isaac  rests  tranquilly  in  his  grave. ^  And 
Englishmen  may  fairly  rejoice  that  this  advance  in  the 
cause  of  religious  tolerance  (if  it  may  so  be  called)  and 
of  Biblical  knowledge,  was  attained  in  the  person  of 

1  "  I  went  into  a  mosque  at  Hebron  and  threw  a  paper  down  into  a  hole 
that  is  considered  to  be  the  tomb  of  Abraham,  and  according  as  the  paper 
lodges  by  the  way,  or  reaches  the  bottom,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  sign  of 
good  or  ill-luck  for  the  petitioner." —  Travels  of  Flnad,  ii.  p.  236. 

2  An  account  appeared  in  a  French  journal  {L'Aiiii  de  la  Religion^  in 
May,  1802,)  of  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  Hebron.  Amidst  curious 
smaller  inaccuracies  it  gave  a  tolerably  correct  narrative  of  the  transaction 
itself.  The  population  of  Hebron  were,  it  Avas  there  stated,  firmly  con- 
vinced that  some  great  disaster  would  befall  Suraya  Pasha  within  the 
year. 


I.J  THE    CAVE.  189 

the  heir  to  the  Enghsh  throne,  out  of  regard  to  the 
position  which  he  and  his  country  hold  in  the  Eastern 
world. 

In  the  second  place,  the  visit  has  enabled  us  to  form 
a  much  clearer  judgment  of  the  value  of  the  previous 
accounts,  to  correct  their  deficiencies  and  to  rectify 
their  confusion.  The  narrative  of  Ali  Bey,  in  particu- 
lar, is  now  substantially  corroborated.  The  existence 
and  the  exact  situation  of  the  cave  underneath  the 
floor  of  the  Mosque,  the  appearance  of  the  ancient 
enclosure  from  within,  the  precise  relation  of  the  differ- 
ent shrines  to  each  other,  and  the  general  conformity 
of  the  traditions  of  the  Mosque  to  the  accounts  of 
the  Bible  and  of  early  travellers,  are  now  for  the 
first  time  clearly  ascertained.  To  discover  the 
entrance  of  the  cave,  to  examine  the  actual  places  of 
the  patriarchal  sepulture,  and  to  set  (eyes  if  so  be)  on 
the  embalmed  body  of  Jacob,  the  only  patriarch  the 
preservation  of  whose  remains  is  thus  described,  — 
must  be  reserved  for  the  explorers  of  another  genera- 
tion, for  whom  this  visit  will  have  been  the  best 
preparation. 

Meanwhile,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  recall  the 
general  instruction  fiirnished  by  the  nearer  General 
contemplation  of  this  remarkable  spot.  The  ^*^^"^^^- 
narrative  itself  to  which  it  takes  us  back  stands  alone 
in  the  Patriarchal  history  for  the  precision  with  which 
both  locality  and  character  are  delineated.  First, 
there  is  the  death  of  Sarah  in  the  city  of  Kirjath-Arba, 
whilst  Abraham  is  absent,^  apparently  at  Mamre.  He 
comes  to  make  the  grand  display  of  funeral  grief, 
"  mourning  aloud  and  weeping  aloud,"  such  as  would 

^  Gen.  xxiii.  2. 


190  THE   MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 

befit  so  great  a  death.  He  is  filled  with  the  desire, 
not  Egyptian,  not  Christian,  hardly  Greek  or  Roman, 
but  certainly  Jewish,  to  thrust  away  the  dark  shadow, 
that  has  fliUen  upon  him,  "  to  bury  ^  his  dead  out  of 
his  sight."  Then  ensues  the  conference  in  the  gate, — 
the  Oriental  place  of  assembly ,2  where  the  negotiators 
and  the  witnesses  of  the  transaction,  as  at  the  present 
day,  are  gathered  from  the  many  comers  and  goers 
through  "  the  gate  of  the  city."  As  in  the  Gentile 
traditions  of  Damascus,  and  as  in  the  ancient  narrative 
of  the  pursuit  of  the  five  kings,  Abraham  is  saluted 
by  the  native  inhabitants,  not  merely  as  a  wandering 
shepherd,  but  as  a  "  Prince  of  God."  ^  The  inhabi- 
tants are,  as  we  might  expect,  not  the  Amorites,  but 
the  Hittites,  whose  name  is  that  recognized  by  all  the 
surrounding  nations.  They  offer  him  the  most  sacred 
of  their  sepulchres  for  the  cherished  remains.*  The 
Patriarch  maintains  his  determination  to  remain  aloof 
from  the  Canaanite  population,  at  the  same  time  that 
he  preserves  every  form  of  courtesy  and  friendliness, 
in  accordance  with  the  magnificent  toleration  and 
inborn  gentleness  which  pervade  his  character.  First, 
as  in  the  attitude  of  Oriental  respect,  "  he  stands,"  and 
then,  twice  over,  he  prostrates  himself  on  the  ground, 
before  the  heathen  masters  of  the  soil.^  Ephron,  the 
son  of  Zohar,  is  worthy  of  the  occasion ;  his  courtesy 
matches  that  of  the  Patriarch  himself:—  "The  field 
give  I  thee,  the  cave  ....  give  I  thee ;  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  sons  of  my  people  give  I  it  thee."  "  What 
is  that  betwixt  thee  and  me  ?  "  ^    It  is  precisely  the  pro- 

1  Gen.  xxiii.  4.  *  Ihid.  6. 

2  Ibid.  10.  6  Jbid.  7-12. 
8  Ibid.  6.  6  Ibid.  13-15. 


L]  THE   CAVE.  191 

fuse  liberality^  with  which  the  Arab  of  the  present 
time  places  everything  in  his  possession  at  the  disposal 
of  the  stranger.  But  the  Patriarch,  with  the  high 
independence  of  his  natural  character  (shall  we  say, 
also,  with  the  caution  of  his  Jewish  descendants?) 
will  not  be  satisfied  without  a  regular  bargain.  He 
"  weighs  out  "  ^  the  coin.  He  specifies  every  detail  in 
the  property  ;  not  the  field  only,  but  the  cave  in  the 
field,  and  the  trees  ^  in  the  field,  and  on  the  edge 
of  the  field,  "  were  made  sure."  The  result  is  the 
first  legal  contract  recorded  in  human  history,  the  first 
known  interment  of  the  dead,  the  first  assignment  of 
property  to  the  Hebrew  people  in  the  Holy  Land.* 

To  this  graphic  and  natural  scene,  not  indeed  by 
an  absolute  continuity  of  proof,  but  by  such  evidence  as 
has  been  given  above,  the  cave  of  Machpelah  carries  us 
back.  And  if  in  the  long  interval  which  elapses 
between  the  description  of  the  spot  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis  (whatever  date  we  assign  to  that  description) 
and  the  notice  of  the  present  sanctuary  by  Josephus, 
so  venerable  a  place  and  so  remarkable  a  transaction 
are  passed  over  without  a  word  of  recognition,  this 
must,  on  any  hypothesis,  be  reckoned  amongst  the 
many  proofs  that,  in  ancient  literature,  no  argument 
can  be  drawn  ao;ainst  a  fact  from  the  mere  silence  of 
authors,  whether  sacred  or  secular,  whose  minds  were 
fixed  on  other  subjects,  and  who  were  writing  with 
another  intention. 

1  Such  exactly  was  the  language  of  Aghyle  Aga,  as  described  in  the  3d 
of  these  Notices. 

2  Gen.  xxiii.  16.  3  jUd.  17. 

4  Several  of  the  above  details  are  suggested  by  an  excellent  passage  on 
.  this  subject  in  Thomson's  Land  and  Booh,  p.  577-579. 


192  THE  MOSQUE    OF  HEBRON.  [I. 


We  remained  at  Hebron  for  that  day  and  during 
the  folio  whig  mornmg.  It  had  been  our  original  inten- 
tion to  have  left  the  place  immediately  after  our 
departure  from  the  Mosque,  and  encamped  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  town.  But  Dr.  Rosen  predicted  before- 
hand that,  if  the  entrance  were  once  made,  no  addi- 
tional precautions  would  be  required.  "  They  will  be 
so  awe-struck,"  he  said,  "  at  the  success  of  your  at- 
tempt, that  they  will  at  once  acquiesce  in  the  fact." 
And  so  it  proved.  Although  we  were  still  accompanied 
by  a  small  escort,  the  rigid  vigilance  of  the  previous 
day  was  relaxed,  and  no  indications  appeared  of  any 
anger  or  vengeance. 

In  the  early  morning  I  visited,  in  company  with  Dr. 
Rosen,  some  of  the  remains  of  antiquity  on  the  wooded 
hill  facing  the  town  of  Hebron  on  the  south.  An 
ancient  well  on  the  slope  of  the  hill  is  sometimes 
called  "  the  Spring  of  Abraham,"  sometimes  "  the 
New  Spring  "  Ain-el-Jedidi  ;  ^  this  last  title,  as  often 
the  case  in  local  designations,  indicating  rather  the 
antiquity  than  the  novelty  of  the  place  in  question.  It 
is  vaulted  over  with  masonry,  and  the  channel,  when 
not  filled  with  water,  is  believed  in  the  neighborhood 
to  reach  to  the  Mosque.  In  this  vault  the  local  tradi- 
tion (attaching  itself  to  the  curious  mistake  before 
noticed,  respecting  the  connection  of  "Adam  "  with 
Hebron)  represents  that  Adam  and  Eve  hid  them- 
selves after  their   flight  from  Paradise.^      Somewhat 

1  Thus  "New  College,"  at  Oxford,  was  called  "  New"  in  relation  to  its 
first  appearance,  and  has  retained  its  name  though  twelve  other  new  col- 
leges have  arisen  since. 

2  It  was  shown  as  such  to  Maundeville  {Early  Travellers  in  Palestine, 
p.  16). 


I.]  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD    OF  HEBRON.        193 

higher  up  the  hill  is  a  ruin  called  Deir  Arhain^  (the 
Convent  of  the  Forty  Martyrs,)  consisting  of  old 
masonry,  which  Dr.  Rosen  conjectures  to  be  the 
remains  of  the  fortress  built  at  Hebron  by  Rehoboam.^ 
In  a  corner  of  this  building  is  the  so-called  tomb  of 
Jesse. 

After  surveying  the  exterior  of  the  Mosque,  we  rode 
over  the  hills,  south  of  Hebron,  to  visit  the  probable 
scene  of  the  romantic  transaction,  recorded  in  the  Book 
of  Joshua  and  the  Book  of  Judges,  between  Caleb 
and  his  daughter  Achsah.^  A  wide  valley,  unusually 
green,  amidst  the  barren  hills  of  the  "  south  country," 
suddenly  breaks  down  into  an  almost  precipitous  and 
still  greener  ravine.  On  the  south  side  of  this  ravine 
is  a  village  called  Dura.,  possibly  tjie  Adoraim  of  the 
Book  of  Chronicles  ;  ^  on  the  north,  at  the  summit  of 
a  steeper  and  more  rugged  ascent,  is  Dewir  Dan.,  which 
recalls  the  name  of  Debir.,  the  fortress  which  Othniel 
stormed  on  the  condition  of  winning  Achsah  for  his 
bride.  —  "  Give  me,"  she  said  to  her  father,  as  she  rode 
on  her  ass  beside  him,  "  a  field,"  —  "a  blessing,"  — a 
rich  field,  such  as  that  which  lies  spread  in  the  green 
basin,  which  she  and  Caleb  would  first  encounter  in 
their  ride  from  Hebron.  "  For  thou  hast  given  me  a 
south  land,"  —  these  dry  rocky  hills  which  extend  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  till  they  melt  into  the  hazy 
platform  of  the  desert.  "  Give  me  also  the  'bubblings' 
QgnllotJi)  of  water  —  the  upper  and  the  lower  bub- 
blings." It  is  an  expressive  word  which  seems  to 
be  used  for  "  tumbhng,    falling  waA^es,"   and   is  thus 

1 1  Chron.  xi.  10. 

2  Joshua  XV.  16-19;  Judges  i.  11-15.   See  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Churchy 
p.  293,  (Araer.  ed.) 

3  2  Chron.  xi.  9. 

13 


194  THE  MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [L 

especially  applicable  to  the  rare  siglit  of  the  clear  rivulet 
that,  rising  in  the  green  meadow  above  mentioned, 
(^Ain  Niinkar.^')  falls  and  flows  continuously  down  to 
the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  and  by  its  upper  and  nether 
streams  gives  verdure  to  the  whole.  The  identifica- 
tion is  not  perhaps  absolutely  certain.  But  the  scene 
lends  itself  to  the  incident  in  every  particular. 

We  returned  by  many  a  vestige  of  ancient  habita- 
tions, chiefly  the  ancient  wells  and  cisterns,  and  the 
winepresses  hewn  out  of  the  hving  rock, —  consisting 
of  the  reservoir  for  the  pressing  of  the  grapes,  the 
channel  through  which  the  juice  was  to  run  off",  and 
the  cellar  or  cavity  into  which  it  was  to  fall.  The 
wide  extent  of  view  and  the  number  of  traditional  or 
historical  localities  included  in  the  prospect,  gave  to 
this  investigation  of  the  neighborhood  of  Hebron,  and 
to  our  descent  from  its  high  elevation  towards  Jerusa- 
lem, an  interest  which  equalled  that  with  which  I  had 
traversed  (in  part)  the  same  route  on  my  first  entrance 
into  the  Holy  Land  in  1853.  The  advantage  of  an 
mtelligent  guide,  like  Dr.  Rosen,  to  whom  every  spot 
was  familiar,  both  in  its  ancient  and  modern  aspects, 
rendered  the  journey  doubly  instructive.  On  the 
nearer  hills  we  explored  in  detail  the  remains  ^  of  the 
"  House  or  High  Place  of  Abraham,"  Ramet-el-khalil, 
the  vestiges  of  the  Temple,  where  the  Patriarch  had 
been  almost  worshipped  by  the  Arabs  as  a  divinity, 
and  of  the  Oratory  which  Constantine  had  ordered  to 
be  erected,  when  at  the  Emperor's  orders  the  sacred 
terebinth  had  been  cut  down,  whence,  as  before   re- 

1  The  local  tradition  is  that  these  ruins  are  the  foundations  of  the  Mosque 
of  Hebron,  before  the  builders  were  directed  by  a  celestial  light  to  the  pres- 
ent site. 


I.]  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD    OF   HEBRON.        195 

marked,  the  name  still  lingers  in  the  adjacent  field. 
On  a  conical  hill  close  hy,  —  possibly  called  from  this 
mcident  Gehel-el-Batrak^  the  hill  of  the  Patriarchy  — 
is  the  traditional  site  of  the  vision  in  which  Abraham 
received  the  promise.^  The  wide  horizon  —  the  sea 
visible  in  tlie  western  distance  —  the  traces  of  antique 
civilization  all  around,  all  so  well  according  with  the 
destinies  of  his  race  —  would  entitle  the  prospect, 
if  the  tradition  had  better  ground,  to  be  ranked  with 
those  views  which,  as  I  have  elsewhere  ^  observed, 
form  such  remarkable  links  between  the  history  and 
the  geography  of  the  Chosen  People.  In  the  yet  fur- 
ther distance  to  the  northeast,  a  church  or  mosque  on 
a  hilltop  deserves,  at  least,  a  momentary  glance  as 
the  traditional  tomb  of  the  Prophet  Gad  or  Nathan  ;  if 
authentic,  or  even  if  only  fanciful,  how  appropriately 
planted  in  the  midst  of  those  early  scenes  of  David's 
life,  in  which  those  two  Prophets  played  so  large  a 
part  !  From  the  hills  to  the  westward,  the  plain  of 
Philistia  lay  flat  beneath  us ;  and,  as  Ave  advanced 
through  their  many  undulations,  we  passed  the  ruins 
of  the  oratory  which  had  stood  on  what  the  tradition 
of  the  fourth  century  marked  out  with  considerable 
probability  as  the  scene  of  Philip's  encounter  with  the 
Ethiopian  chamberlain  ^  at  the  well  by  the  roadside, 
almost  directly  at  the  point  where  through  a  wide 
valley  opens  what  is  still  the  usual  route  to  Gaza  — 
and  (at  least  as  compared  with  the  northern  road) 
"  deserted  "  of  villages.     By  the  pools  of  Solomon,  the 


1  Gen.  XV.  1. 

2  Sinai  and  Palestine^  c.  ii.  130. 

3  Acts  viii.  36.    The  remains  of  the  Roman  road  and  of  a  Roman  mile- 
stone ^e  still  visible. 


196  THE  MOSQUE    OF   HEBRON.  [I- 

green  vale  of  Urtas,  the  Latin  convent  of  Beit  Jala,^ 
the  Greek  convent  of  the  Cross,  we  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem on  the  5th  of  April,  and  left  it  on  the  following 
day  for  Bethel,  Shiloh,  and  Nablus. 

1  This  convent,  which  overhangs  the  ridge  of  Bethlehem,  is  now  usually 
identified  with  Zelah  or  Zelzah,  the  burial-place  of  the  house  of  Saul  (2 
Sam.  xxi.  14).  It  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  random  guesses  of  the  Mo- 
nastic establishments,  that  the  monks  in  the  convent  represented  it  to  us  as 
the  site  of  Gideon's  threshing-floor  (Judg.  vi.  11),  which  must,  beyond 
question,  have  been  three  days' journey  distant  amongst  the  hills  of  Ma- 
nasseh. 


TEE  SAMARITAN  PASSOVER. 


PLAN   OF  MOUNT   GERIZBI. 


"'^S»l*ii 


1.  Fortress. 

2.  Seven  steps  of  Adam  out  of  Paradise. 

3.  Scene  of  the  offerinc;  of  Tsaac,  —  a  trougli  like  that  used  for  the  Paschal 

Feast. 

4.  "  Holy  Place." 

5.  Joshua's  Twelve  Stones. 

6.  "  Tomb  of  Sheik  Ghranem,"  or  "  Shechem  ben  Hamor." 

7.  "  Cave  where  the  Tabernacle  was  built." 

8.  Hole  Avhere  the  Paschal  sheep  are  roasted 

9.  Trench  where  they  are  eaten. 

1  0.  Platform  for  the  celebration  of  the  Passover. 
1 1 .  Hole  where  the  water  is  boiled. 


11.   THE   SAMARITAN  PASSOVER. 


IF  of  all  the  Holy  Places  in  Palestine  the  Mosqne  of 
Hebron  was  the  one  which,  after  my  first  journey, 
I  most  regretted  to  have  left  unseen  amongst  the  sacred 
spectacles,  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Samaritan 
Passover.  This  on  the  present  occasion  we  were 
enabled  to  witness.  A  brief  description  of  it  had 
been  already  given  to  me  in  1854  by  Mr.  Rogers,^  now 
Consul  at  Damascus.  I  am  induced  to  give  a  full 
account  of  its  celebration  as  we  saw  it  in  1862,  not 
only  from  its  intrinsic  interest,  but  because  it  is  evident 
that  the  ceremonial  has  been  considerably  modified 
since  the  time  when  it  was  first  described  to  me.  Even 
to  that  lonely  community  the  influences  of  Western 
change  have  extended ;  and  this  is  perhaps  the  last 
generation  which  will  have  the  opportunity  of  witness- 
ino-  this  vestio;e  of  the  earliest  Jewish  ritual. 

The  Samaritan  Passover  is  celebrated  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Jewish  —  namely,  on  the  full  moon  of  the 
month  Nisan.  In  the  present  instance,  either  by  de- 
sign or  by  a  fortunate  mistake,  the  Samaritan  commu- 
nity had  anticipated  the  14th  of  the  month  by  two  days. 
It  was  on  the  evening  of  Saturday  the  13th  of  April 
that  we  ascended  Mount  Gerizim,  and  visited  the 
various  traditional  localities  on  the  rocky  platform 
which  crowns  the  most  ancient  of  sanctuaries.     The 

1  His  account  has  since  been  printed  in  his  sister's  interesting  work, 
Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,  281. 


200  THE   SAMARITAN  PASSOVER.  [II. 

whole  community  —  amomiting,  it  is  said,  to  one 
hmidred  and  fifty-two,  from  which  hardly  any  varia- 
tion has  taken  place  within  the  memory  of  man  — 
were  encamped  in  tents  on  a  level  space,  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  below  the  actual  summit  of  the  mountain,^ 
selected  on  account  of  its  comparative  shelter  and 
seclusion.  The  women  ^  were  shut  up  in  the  tents. 
The  prepa-  The  uicu  wcrc  assembled  on  the  rocky  terrace 
ration.  -^^  sacrcd  costumc.     In  1854  they  all  wore 

the  sacred  costume.  On  this  occasion  most  of  them 
were  in  their  ordinary  dress.  Only  about  fifteen 
of  the  elder  men,  amongst  whom  was  the  Priest 
Amram,^  were  clothed,  as  formerly  was  the  case 
with  the  whole  community,  in  long,  White  robes. 
To  these  must  be  added  six  youths,^  dressed  in  white 

1  It  is  only  within  the  last  twenty  years  that  the  Samaritans  (chiefly 
through  the  intervention  of  the  English  Consul)  have  regained  tlie  right, 
or  rather  the  safety,  of  holding  their  festival  on  Mount  Gerizim.  For  a 
long  time  before,  they  had  celebrated  the  Passover  like  the  modern  Jews, 
and,  as  in  the  nrst  celebration  of  the  institution  in  Egypt,  in  their  own 
houses.  The  performance  of  the  solemnity  on  Gerizim  is  in  strict  conform- 
ity with  the  principle  laid  down  in  Deut.  xvi  15:  —  "Thou  shalt  keep  a 
solemn  feast  in  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  choose," — and 
with  the  practice  which  prevailed  in  Judaea  till  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  of 
celebrating  the  Passover  at  the  Temple. 

2  Those  women,  who,  by  the  approach  of  childbirth  or  other  ceremonial 
reasons,  Avere  prevented  from  sharing  in  the  celebration,  remained  in 
Nablus. 

8  It  is  stated  in  Miss  Rogers'  Domestic  Life  in  Palestine  (249)  that  Am- 
ram  is  not  properly  a  priest  (the  legitimate  high  priest,  —  the  last  descend- 
ant, as  they  allege,  of  Aaron,  —  having  expired  some  years  ago),  and  that 
he  is  only  a  Levite.  He  is,  however,  certainly  called  "  the  priest"  (Cohen). 
He  has  two  wives.  The  children  of  the  first  died  in  infancy,  and  he  was 
therefore  entitled,  b}^  Samaritan  usage,  to  take  a  second.  By  her  he  has  a 
son,  Isaac.  But,  according  to  the  Oriental  law  of  succession,  he  will  be 
succeeded  in  his  otfice  by  his  nephew  Jacob,  as  the  oldest  of  the  tlimily. 

4  These  youths  were  evidently  trained  for  the  purpose;  but  whether  they 
held  any  sacred  office,  I  could  not  learn.  In  the  Jewish  ritual,  the  lambs 
were  usuallv  slain  by  the  householders,  but  on  great  occasions  (2  Chron. 
XXXV.  10)  apparently  by  the  Levites. 


II.]  THE   SACRIFICE.  201 

shirts  and  white  drawers.  The  feet  both  of  these  and 
of  the  elders  were  at  this  time  of  the  solemnity  bare. 
It  was  about  half  an  hour  before  sunset,  that  the  whole 
male  community  in  an  irregular  form  (those  attired  as 
has  been  described  in  a  more  regular  order)  gathered 
round  a  long  trough  that  had  been  previously  dug  in 
the  ground ;  and  the  Priest,  ascending  a  large  rough 
stone  in  front  of  the  congregation,  recited  in  a  loud 
chant  or  scream,  in  which  the  others  joined,  prayers 
or  praises  chiefly  turning  on  the  glories  of  Abraham 
and  Isaac.  Their  attitude  was  that  of  all  Orientals 
in  prayer ;  standing,  occasionally  diversified  by  the 
stretching  out  of  the  hands,  and  more  rarely  by  kneel- 
ing or  crouching,  with  their  faces  wrapt  in  their 
clothes  and  bent  to  the  ground,^  towards  the  Holy 
Place  on  the  summit  of  Gerizim.  The  Priest  recited 
his  prayers  by  heart ;  the  others  had  mostly  books,  in 
Hebrew  and  Arabic. 

Presently,  suddenly,  there  appeared  amongst  the 
worshippers  six  sheep,^  driven  up  by  the  side  of  the 
youths  before  mentioned.  The  unconscious  innocence 
with  which  they  wandered  to  and  fro  amongst  The  sacrifice, 
the  bystanders,  and  the  simplicity  in  aspect  and 
manner  of  the  young  men  who  tended  them,  more 
recalled  a  scene  in  Arcadia,  or  one  of  those  inimitable 
patriarchal  tableaux  represented  in  the  Ammergau 
Mystery,  than  a  religious  ceremonial.  It  did  in  fact 
faithfully  recall  the  pastoral  condition  of  the  Israelites, 
when  they  emerged  from  the  land  of  Goshen  ;  when 
from  their  shepherds'  flocks  a  lamb  ^  or  a  kid  was  their 
only  and  then'  most  suitable  offermg.     The  sun,  mean- 

1  Compare  the  attitude  of  Elijah  (1  Kings  xviii.  42;  xix.  13). 

2  Seven  sheep  is  the  usual  number.  —  Domestic  Life  in  Palestine,  250. 

8  Ex.  xii.  5.     "  Ye  shall  take  it  out  from  the  sheep,  or  from  the  goats." 


202  THE   SAMARITAN  PASSOVER.  [II. 

while,  which  hitherto  had  burnished  up  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  the  distance,  now  sank  A^ery  nearly  to  the 
farthest  western  ridge  overhanging  the  plain  of  Sharon. 
The  recitation  became  more  vehement.  The  Priest 
turned  about,  facing  his  brethren,  and  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  Exodus,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Plagues 
of  Egypt  was  rapidly,  almost  furiously,  chanted.  The 
sheep,  still  innocently  playful,  were  driven  more 
closely  together.  The  setting  sun  ^  now  touched  the 
ridge.  The  youths  burst  into  a  wild  murmur  of  their 
own,  drew  forth  their  long  bright  knives,  and  bran- 
dished them  aloft.  In  a  moment,  the  sheep  were 
thrown  on  their  backs,  and  the  flashing  knives  rapidly 
drawn  across  their  throats.  Then  a  few  convulsive 
but  silent  struggles,  —  "as  a  sheep  —  dumb  —  that 
openeth  not  his  mouth,"  —  and  the  six  forms  lay  life- 
less on  the  ground,  the  blood  streaming  from  them ; 
the  one  only  Jewish  sacrifice  lingering  in  the  world.  In 
•the  blood  the  young  men  dipped  their  fingers,  and  a 
small  spot  was  marked  on  the  foreheads  and  noses  of 
the  children.  A  few  years  ago  the  red  stain  was 
placed  on  all.  But  this  had  now  dwindled  away  into 
the  present  practice,  preserved,  we  were  told,  as  a 
relic  or  emblem  of  the  whole.  Then,  as  if  in  con- 
gratulation at  the  completion  of  the  ceremony,  they 
all  kissed  each  other,  in  the  Oriental  fashion,  on  each 
side  of  the  liead.^ 

1  "  The  whole  assembly  shall  kill  it '  betAveen  the  two  evenings'  "  (Ex. 
xii.  6).  "Thou  shalt  sacrifice  the  Passover  at  evening,  at  the  going  down 
of  the  sun,"  (Deut.  xvi.  6). 

2  I  have  recently  seen  an  account  of  the  Samaritan  Passover,  as  cele- 
brated in  1854,  in  Professor  Petermann's  Travels.  He  adds  a  few  curious 
details,  as  for  example,  that,  at  the  moment  of  the  slaughter  of  the  sheep, 
the  High  Priest  recites  in  a  loud  voice  the  words  from  Exod.  xii.  6:  "  And 
the  whole  assembly  of  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  kill 
it  in  the  evening." 


n.]  THE   SACRIFICE.  203 

The  next  process  was  that  of  the  fleecmg'  and 
roasting  of  the  slaughtered  animals,  for  which  the 
ancient  Temple  furnished  such  ample  provisions.  On 
the  mountain-side  two  holes  had  been  dug,  one  at  some 
distance,  of  considerable  depth,  the  other,  close  to  the 
scene  of  the  Sacrifice,  comparatively  shallow.  In  this 
latter  cavity,  after  a  short  prayer,  a  fire  was  kindled, 
out  of  a  mass  of  dry  heath,  juniper,  and  briers,  such 
as  furnish  the  materials  for  the  conflag-ration  in 
Jotham's  Parable,  delivered  not  far  from  this  very 
spot.  Over  the  fire  were  placed  two  caldrons  full  of 
water.  Whilst  the  water  boiled,  the  cono:reo;ation 
again  stood  round,  and  (as  if  for  economy  of  time) 
continued  the  recitation  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  and 
bitter  herbs  were  handed  round  wrapped  in  a  strip  of 
unleavened  bread :  "  with  unleavened  bread  and  with 
bitter  herbs  shall  they  eat  it."^  Then  was  chanted 
another  short  prayer.  After  which  the  six  youths 
again  appeared,  poured  the  boiling  water  over  the 
sheep,  and  plucked  off  their  fleeces.  The  right  fore- 
legs ^  of  the  sheep,  with  the  entrails,  were  thrown  aside 
and  burnt.  The  liver  was  carefully  put  back.  Long 
poles  were  brought,  on  which  the  animals  were  spitted  ; 
near  the  bottom  of  each  pole  was  a  transverse  peg  or 
stick,  to  prevent  the  body  from  slipping  off.  As  no 
part  of  the  body  is  transfixed  by  this  cross-stake,  —  as, 
indeed,  the  body  hardly  impinges  on  it  at  all,  —  there 
is  at  present  but  a  very  slight  resemblance  to  a  cruci- 

1  In  the  ancient  Jewish  ritual  the  lambs  were  skinned,  as  in  western 
countries  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  11;  Mishna,  Pesachim,  ch.  v.  9).  The  process, 
as  above  described,  was  like  that  of  our  mode  of  taking  off  the  hair  from 
pigs  after  they  have  been  killed. 

2  Ex.  xii.  8. 

8  The  right  shoulder  and  the  hamstrings  {Domestic  Life  in  Palestine, 


204  THE   SAMAPdTAN  PASSOVER.  [H. 

fixion.  But  it  is  possible  that  in  earlier  times  the  legs 
of  the  animal  may  have  been  attached  to  the  trans- 
verse beam.  So  at  least  the  Jewish  rite  is  described 
by  Justin  Martyr,  — ''  The  Paschal  Lamb,  that  is  to 
be  roasted,  is  roasted  in  a  form  like  to  that  of  the 
Cross.  For  one  spit  is  thrust  through  the  animal  from 
head  to  tail,  and  another  through  its  breast,  to  which  ^ 
its  forefeet  are  attached."  He  naturally  saw  in  it  a 
likeness  of  the  Crucifixion.  But  his  remark,  under 
any  view,  is  interesting :  first,  because,  being  a  native 
of  Nablus,  he  probably  drew  his  notices  of  the  Passover 
from  this  very  celebration  ;  which,  as  it  would  thus 
appear,  has,  even  in  this  minute  particular,  been  but 
very  slightly  modified  since  he  saw  it  in  the  second 
century ;  and,  also,  because,  as  he  draws  no  distinction 
between  this  rite  and  that  of  the  Jews  in  general,  we 
have  a  right  to  infer  that  the  Samaritan  Passover  is  on 
the  whole  a  faithful  representation  of  the  Jewish. 
That  the  spit  was  run  right  through  the  body  of  the 
animal  in  the  Jewish  ritual,  and  was  of  wood,  as  in  the 
Samaritan,  is  clear  from  the  account  in  the  Mishna.^ 

The  sheep  were  then  carried  to  the  other  hole 
already  mentioned,  which  was  constructed  in  the 
The  roasting,  form  of  tlic  usual  ovcu  (tannuv')  of  Arab 
villages,  —  a  deep  circular  pit  sunk  in  the  earth,  with 
a  fire  kindled  at  the  bottom.  Into  this  the  sheep  were 
thrust  down  (it  is  said,  but  this  I  could  not  see),  with 
care,  to  prevent  the  bodies  from  impinging  on  the  sides, 

1  Dial,  cum  Tryph.  c.  40. 

2  Pesdchim,  ch,  vi.  7.  It  was  to  be  wood,  not  iron,  in  order  thnt  the 
roastinf^  mifjlit  be  entirely  "by  fire,"  and  not  by  the  hot  iron:  and  the 
wood  was  to  be  pomegranate,  as  not  emitting  an}'  water,  and  so  not  inter- 
fering with  the  roasting.  Whether  the  spits  on  Gerizim  were  of  pomegran- 
ate I  did  not  observe. 


IL]  THE   SACRIFICE.  205 

and  so  being  roasted  by  anything  but  the  flre.^  A 
hurdle  was  then  put  over  the  mouth  of  the  pit,  well 
covered  with  wet  earth,  so  as  to  seal  up  the  oven  till 
the  roasting  was  completed.  "They  shall ^  eat  the 
flesh  in  that  night  roast  with  fire.  Eat  not  of  it  raw, 
nor  sodden  at  all  with  water,  but  roast  with  fire." 

The  ceremonial  up  to  this  time  occupied  about  two 
hours.  It  was  now  quite  dark,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  community  and  of  our  company  retired  to  rest. 
Five  hours  or  more  elapsed  in  silence,  and  it  was  not 
till  after  midnight  that  the  announcement  was  made, 
that  the  feast  was  about  to  begin.  The  Paschal  moon 
was  still  bricrht  and  high  in  the  heavens.  The  whole 
male  community  was  gathered  round  the  mouth  of  the 
oven,  and  with  reluctance  allowed  the  intrusion  of  any 
stranger  to  a  close  inspection  ;  a  reluctance  which  was 
kept  up  during  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  transac- 
tion, and  contrasted  with  the  freedom  with  which  we 
had  been  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  ceremony.  It  seemed  as  if  the  riffid  exclusiveness 
of  the  ancient  Paschal  ordinance  here  came  into  play, 
—  "A  foreigner^  shall  not  eat  thereof;  no  uncircum- 
cised  person  shall  eat  thereof." 

Suddenly  the  covering  of  the  hole  was  torn  off,  and 
up  rose  into  the  still  moonlit  sky  a  vast  column  of 
smoke  and  steam ;  recalling,  with  a  shock  of  surprise, 
that,  even  though  the  coincidence  may  have  been  acci- 
dental, Reginald  Heber  should  have  so  well  caught  this 
striking  feature  of  so  remote  and  unknown  a  ritual :  — 
"  Smokes  on  Gerizim's  Mount,  Samaria's  sacrifice." 

Out  of  the  pit  were  dragged,  successively,  the  six 
sheep,  on  their  long  spits,  black  from  the  oven.     The 

1  Mishna,  Pesachim,  vi.  7.  2  Ex.  xii.  8,  9.  3  Md  45^  43. 


206  THE   SAMARITAN  PASSOVER.  [II. 

outlines  of  their  heads,  their  ears,  their  legs,  were  still 
visible,  — "  his  head  with  his  legs,  and  with  the  in- 
ward parts  thereof."  ^  They  were  hoisted  aloft  and 
then  thrown  on  large  square  brown  mats,  previously  pre- 
pared for  their  reception,  on  which  we  were  carefully 
prevented  from  treading,  as  also  from  touching  even 
the  extremities  of  the  spits.  The  bodies  thus  wrapt 
in  the  mats  were  hurried  down  to  the  trench  where  the 
sacrifice  had  taken  place,  and  laid  out  upon  them  in  a 
hue  between  two  files  of  the  Samaritans.  Those  who 
had  before  been  dressed  in  white  robes  still  retained 
them,  with  the  addition  now,  of  shoes  on  their  feet 
and  staves  in  their  hands,  and  ropes  round  their  waists, 
—  "  Thus  shall  ye  eat  it ;  with  your  loins  girded,  your 
shoes  on  your  feet,  your  staff  in  your  hand."  ^  The 
recitation  of  prayers  or  of  the  Pentateuch  recom- 
menced, and  continued,  till  it  suddenly  terminated  in 
their  all  sitting  down  on  their  haunches,  after  the  Arab 
fashion  at  meals,  and  beginning  to  eat.  This,  too,  is  a 
deviation  from  the  practice  of  only  a  few  years  since, 
when  they  retained  the  Mosaic  ritual  of  standing 
whilst  they  ate.  The  actual  feast  was  conducted  in 
rapid  silence  as  of  men  in  hunger,  as  no  doubt  most 
of  them  were,  and  so  as  soon  to  consume  every  portion 
of  the  blackened  masses,  which  they  tore  away  piece- 
meal with  their  fingers,  —  "  Ye  shall  eat  in  haste."  ^ 
There  was  a  general  merriment,  as  of  a  hearty  and 
welcome  meal.  In  ten  minutes  all  was  gone  but  a  few 
remnants.  To  the  Priest  and  to  the  women,  who,  all 
but  two  (probably  his  two  wives),  remained  in  the 
tents,  separate  morsels  were  carried  round.     The  rem- 

1  Ex.  xii.  9.  2  Jiid.  11. 

3  Jbld.  11.     The  hasty  snatching  which  I  had  heard  described,  I  was  un- 
able to  recognize. 


n.]  THE   PASCHAL   FEAST.  207 

nants  were  gathered  into  the  mats,  and  put  on  a 
wooden  grate  or  hurdle  over  the  hole  where  the  water 
had  been  originally  boiled  ;  the  fire  was  again  lit,  and  a 
huge  bonfire  was  kindled.  By  its  blaze,  and  by  candles 
lighted  for  the  purpose,  the  ground  was  searched  m 
every  direction,  as  for  the  consecrated  particles  of 
sacramental  elements ;  and  these  fragments  of  the 
flesh  and  bone  were  thrown  upon  the  burning  mass. 
"  Ye  shall  let  nothing  remain  until  the  morning  ;  and 
that  which  remaineth  until  the  morning  ye  shall  burn 
with  fire."  "There  shall  not  anything  of  the  flesh 
which  thou  sacrificest  the  first  day  at  even  remain  all 
night  until  the  morning."  "  Thou  shalt  not  carry 
forth  aucrht  of  the  flesh  abroad  out  of  the  house."^ 
The  flames  blazed  up  once  more,  and  then  gradually 
sank  away.  Perhaps  in  another  century  the  fire  on 
Mount  Gerizim  will  be  the  only  relic  left  of  this  most 
interesting  and  ancient  rite.  By  the  early  morning 
the  whole  community  had  descended  from  the  moun- 
tain, and  occupied  their  usual  habitations  in  the  to-s\T.i. 
"  Thou  shalt  tmni  in  the  morning,  and  go  unto  thy 
tents."  2 

With  us  it  was  the  morning  of  Palm  Sunday,  and  it 
was  curious  to  reflect  by  what  a  long  gradation  of 
centuries  the  simple  ritual  of  the  English  Church  — 
celebrated  then,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  with 
more  than  its  ordinary  simplicity  —  had  grown  up  out 
of  the  wild,  pastoral,  barbarian,  yet  still  elaborate, 
commemoration,  which  we  had  just  witnessed,  of  the 
escape  of  the  sons  of  Israel  from  the  yoke  of  the 
Egyptian  King. 

1  Ex.  xii.  10,  46 :  Deut.  xvi.  4.  2  peut.  xvi.  7. 


208  ANTIQUITIES    OF   NABL&S.  [H. 

I  subjoin  a  few  remarks  on  the  situation  and  anti- 
quities of  Shechem,  as  we  saw  them  on  that  day  to 
greater  advantage  than  is  usually  the  case  ;  partly 
from  again  enjoying  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Rosen,  who 
has  devoted  much  attention  ^  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Nablus,  partly  from  the  check  imposed  on  the  usual 
fanaticism  of  the  inhabitants  by  the  presence  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales. 

As  the  view  of  Jerusalem  from  Mount  Olivet 
reveals  all  the  peculiar  features  of  the  southern  capi- 
tal, so  does  the  view  from  a  huge  projecting  crag  of 
Gerizim  —  which  Dr.  Rosen,  with  great  probability, 
conjectures  to  have  been  the  position  of  Jotham  as 
described  in  the  Book  of  Judges — reveal  all  the 
peculiar  features  of  the  northern  capital  Sliechem. 
The  view  sweeps  the  whole  valley,  and  shows  how 
completely  it  is  in  the  very  central  draught  (so  to 
speak)  of  Palestine.  Alone  of  the  cities  of  the  Holy 
Land,  it  commands  the  sight  at  once  of  the  Trans- 
Jordanic  mountains  on  the  east,  and  of  the  broad  sea 
on  the  west.  Opposite,  on  the  north,  runs  the  long 
ridge  of  Ebal,  evidently  the  necropolis  of  the  ancient 
city,  which,  being  itself  deep  in  the  valley,  required 
the  mountain  (and  not,  as  at  Jerusalem,  the  ravine) 
for  its  tombs.  Behind  is  Gerizim,  sheltering  in  its 
northeastern  curves  the  little  mosque  which,  in  its 
various  names  of  AUon  MoreJi  (the  Oak  of  Moreh), 
Ahron  Moreh  (the  Ark  of  Moreh),  Shei/kh  el  Amad 
(the  Saint  of  the  Pillar),  seems  to  commemorate  the 
tradition    of    the    consecrated  oak    and    treasures    of 

1  Zeitschrift  Deutsch.  Morgenldml  Gesellschaft,  xiv.  634. 


II.]  ANTIQUITIES    OF  NABLllS.  209 

Jacob  and  the  pillar  of  Joshua.^  Close  by  in  the 
mountain-side  are  the  vast  caverns,  overhung  with 
luxuriant  creepers,  from  which  Jotham  may  have 
issued  on  the  day  of  his  famous  parable. ^  Immedi- 
ately below  lies  the  mass  of  various  verdure,  —  unpar- 
alleled in  Palestine,  —  which  gave  him  the  materials 
for  his  imagery ;  the  Olives  taking  the  precedence 
from  their  size  and  number ;  but  melting  into  the 
richer  green  of  the  Fig-tree  and  the  Vine  ;  and  all  of 
them  towering  above  the  worthless  Brier  that  creeps 
aloncr  the  walls. 

The  actual  shoulder  (Shechem)  which  may  seem 
to  have  given  its  name  to  the  ancient  town  is  a  water- 
shed, is  exceedingly  low,  like  all  those  between  the 
Jordan  and  the  Mediterranean,  and  rises  a  little  to  the 
east  of  the  present  town,  and  thus  nearer  to  the  well- 
known  localities  of  the  Consecrated  Pillar  and  of 
Jacob's  Well.  But  the  general  situation  of  the  place 
must  have  been  determined,  then  as  now,  by  the 
mighty  burst  of  waters  from  the  flank  of  Gerizim. 
Thirty-two  springs  can  be  traced  in  different  parts. 
One  of  them  (^Ain  Karoun)  is  cherished  with  an 
almost  religious  veneration.  Partly  from  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  vault  erected  over  it,  partly  from  its 
non-Arabic  name,  it  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
sacred  springs  so  commonly  found  in  the  Eastern 
Church  under  the  name  of  Hagiasma^  itself  perhaps, 
in  the  heathen  times  of  Neapolis,  venerated  as  the 
centre  of  a  Pagan  Nymphaeum.  The  chief  mosques 
are  three. 

The  Eagle  Mosque  (^Nasr)  and  the   Great  Mosque 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  chap.  v. 

2  Judg.  ix.  7.    See  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church,  p.  386,  (Amer.  ed.) 

14 


210  ANTIQUITIES    OF  NABlts.  [II. 

(^El  Kliehir)  have,  I  believe,  been  very  rarely,  if 
ever,  in  the  memory  of  man,  visited  by  Em'opeans. 
They  are  both  formed  out  of  Christian  churches. 
Both  have  the  form  of  a  Basilica,  though  the  Great 
Mosque,  which  was  formerly  a  church  of  S.  John,  has 
a  fine  Gothic  porch,  probably  built  by  the  Knights 
of  S.  John  during  the  Latin  occupation  of  Palestine. 
Both  have  columns  of  Egyptian  granite  ;  of  which 
one  in  the  Great  Mosque  has  the  completely  Egyptian 
style,  both  in  its  capital  and  in  its  coloring. 

The  third  mosque  is  remarkable  not  for  its  Christian 
but  for  its  Samaritan  antiquities.  It  is  called  "  Hadra^^ 
("  the  Green  "),  or  "  Hussn-el-Yakoub  "  ("the  Wail- 
ing Place  of  Jacob  "),  from  the  Mussulman  tradition 
that  there  Jacob  lamented  the  death  of  his  favorite 
son,  and  that  the  aged  mulberry-tree  which  stands  in  the 
court  withered  at  the  news  of  the  loss  of  Joseph,  and 
became  green  again  on  his  recovery.  The  mosque  has 
fragments  of  ancient  columns  built  into  its  walls,  and 
is  said  to  stand  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  synagogue  of 
the  Samaritans,  erected  b.  c.  116,  when  their  temple 
was  destroyed  by  Hyrcanus.  A  stone  is  built  into  the 
tower  of  the  minaret,  inscribed  with  the  Samaritan  ver- 
sion of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  ending,  as  if  by  a 
combination  of  the  Morning  and  Evening  prayers  of 
the  Israelite  encampment,  —  "  Arise,  O  Lord,  and 
turn  again."  ^ 

The  existing  synagogue  stands  close  by.  I  leave  to 
Hebrew  and  Samaritan  scholars  the  vexed  question  of 
the  relative  antiquity  of  the  rolls  which  are  exhibited, 
A  photograph  was  taken  of  that  which  claimed  to  be 
the  oldest,  and  which  is  believed  by  Dr.  Rosen  to  be 

1  Num.  xi.  35,  36.    See  Sermon  XI. 


II.]  ANTIQUITIES    OF  NABLtfS.  211 

at  least  as  ancient  as  the  destruction  of  the  Samaritan 
Temple  b.  c.  116.  The  dark  spots  which  appear  on  its 
surface  are  said  to  be  from  the  kisses  of  the  devout 
Samaritans,  imprmted  on  all  the  passages  where  the 
name  or  the  benediction  of  Aaron  occurs.  The  hang- 
ings in  which  the  cases  are  wrapt  are  remarkable  as 
being  embroidered  with  the  emblems  of  the  Jewish 
worship,  —  amongst  which  the  cherubs  appear  as  birds, 
and  the  altar  is  represented  by  a  grate,  much  resem- 
bling the  hurdles  over  the  fire  in  the  Paschal  Sacrifice 
on  Mount  Gerizim. 


GALILEE. 


III.   GALILEE. 


FROM  Nablus  we  passed  by  Samaria  to  Jenin. 
Here  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  lay  spread  out  before 
us.  In  skirting  its  southwestern  corner  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  we  crossed  the  ancient  road  from  Damascus  to 
Egypt,  by  which  of  old  the  Midianite  merchants  passed 
when  from  the  neighboring  Dothan  they  carried  off 
their  youthful  slave  ;  ^  and  by  which  in  later  times 
Pharaoh  Neco  marched  and  encountered  Josiah  at 
Hadad-Rimon,  probably  a  Syrian  sanctuary  or  cara- 
vanserai, built  by  the  Damascene  caravans.^  We 
then  traversed  the  battle-field  of  Deborah  and  Barak, 
and  saw  how  from  Taanach  the  Canaanite  ^  host  must 
have  watched  the  army  of  Barak  descending  from 
Tabor  which  there  breaks  into  view,  and  how  the 
"  waters  "  of  the  numerous  brooks,  which  descend 
from  Megiddo,  must  in  the  tempest  of  that  memorable 
day  have  swelled  the  stream  of  the  Kishon  till  it  swept 
away  the  horses  and  chariots  of  the  enemy.  We  en- 
camped under  the  inland  extremity  of  Carmel,  by  the 
green  hill  of  Tell  Kaimon,  probably  the  ancient 
Jbkneam  ;  and  thence  ascended  by  the  rocky  dells  and 
tangled  thickets  of  Carmel  to  the  scene  of  the  sacrifice 

1  Gen.  xxxvii.  17,  25. 

2  2  Kings  xxiii.  29.    Zech.  xii.  11. 

3  See  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church,  p.  357,  (Ara.  ed.) 


216  GALILEE.  [in. 

of  Elijali,^  wliere  just  before  sunset  was  spread  out 
before  us  the  view  on  which  the  King  and  the  Prophet 
had  looked  on  the  evening  of  their  long  conflict. 

The  next  day  we  crossed  the  Kishon,  as  it  forces  its 
way  between  the  flank  of  Carmel  and  the  projection  of 
the  Galilean  hills,  into  the  plain  of  Acre.  Over  that 
plain,  teeming  with  game  and  wild  animals  of  all 
kinds,  we  at  last  reached  the  groves  of  palm  and 
orange  trees  that  mark  the  neighborhood  of  Acre  ;  and 
emerged  on  the  cheering  and  romantic  view  of  the 
Mediterranean  waters,  dashing  round  the  curve  of  the 
little  bay  and  against  the  walls  of  that  famous  city. 
From  those  walls,  under  the  guidance  of  one  of  our 
party  who  had  been  present  at  the  time,  we  explored 
the  traces  of  the  siege  of  1840  ;  and,  after  a  midday 
repast  in  the  ruined  gardens  of  Abdallah  Pasha,  finally 
struck  across  the  plain  into  the  mountains  of  Galilee  to 
the  secluded  and  picturesque  village  of  Shefa  Omar. 

From  this  point,  the  new  route,  on  which  I  entered 
in  passing  through  Galilee,  aflbrded  many  illustrations 
to  my  former  journey.  The  forest  scenery,  which  I 
had  known  before  only  from  others,  I  now  was  able  to 
see  for  myself.  Its  chief  luxuriance  lies  between  the 
plain  of  Acre  and  the  plain  of  Asochis,  or,  as  it  is  now 
called,  "  the  Buttauf."  It  is  a  continual  succession  of 
parklike  glades,  abounding  in  those  "  birds  of  the  air," 
of  brilliant  plumage,  which  so  often  figure  in  the  Gali- 
lean Parables.  It  ends  abruptly  on  the  western  edge 
of  the  plain  of  Buttauf,  which  on  the  eastern  side  is 


1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  ix.  I  cannot  forbear  to  express  my  hope 
that  no  mistaken  zeal  will  be  encouraged  to  cover  this  interesting  and 
sacred  site  with  the  church  or  chapel  of  any  particular  sect,  as  was  appre- 
hended a  year  ago. 


m.]  CANA,  217 

bounded  by  the  bare  bills  of  Nazareth.  On  that  west- 
ern edge,  planted  on  a  rocky  spur  of  the  hills,  is  the 
deserted  village,  which,  according  to  the  oldest  local 
tradition  and  the  most  recent  critical  researches,  has 
been  identified  with  "  Cana  of  Galilee."  If,  as  has 
been  not  unreasonably  conjectured  from  the  language 
of  S.  John's  Gospel,^  Cana  was  the  scene  not  merely 
of  the  occasional  visits  recorded,  but  of  a  lengthened 
residence  of  our  Lord  in  Galilee,  its  site  becomes 
doubly  interesting.  The  name  by  which  the  place  is 
now  known  is  still  "  Ghana^'^  or  ''KJiana.''  The  affix 
^l  Jelil^  which  Dr.  Robinson  ^  believed  to  be  a  still 
further  token  of  its  identity  with  Cana  of  c^na  of 
Galilee^  I  never  heard  in  the  neighborhood  ^^^^®®- 
nor  on  the  spot.  It  has  every  characteristic  which  the 
shght  indications  in  the  Gospel  narrative  require.  It 
is  about  four  hours'  journey  from  Nazareth  ;  about  an 
hom-'s  journey  from  Sepphorieh,  the  traditional  birth- 
place of  the  Virgin,  the  seat  of  the  Roman  capital  of 
Galilee,  Dio-C^sarea.  The  ruins  of  the  modern,  and 
the  vestiges  of  the  ancient,  village  cover  the  rocky  slope 
of  the  hill  which  overhangs  the  northernmost  extremity 
of  the  plain.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  (in  the  middle 
of  April)  at  this  part  of  the  plain  was  a  swamp,  almost 
a  lake,^  from  the  accumulation  of  recent  rain.  It  is 
probably  from  the  neighborhood  of  this  swamp  that 
the  place  derived  its  name  of  Cana^  or  the  Reedy ;  and 
the  epithet  of  Galilee  was  added  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  Cana^^  one  of  the  streams  that  flow  into  the  Med- 
iterranean, and  so  called  doubtless  for  a  similar  reason,  in 

1  John  ii.  1;  iv.  46.  2  Biblical  Researches,  ii.  346. 

3  From  the  top  of  Carmel  it  had  quite  the  appearance  of  a  lake. 

4  Joshua  xvi.  8 :  xvii.  8. 


218  GALILEE.  [III. 

the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  Even  on  the  dry  rocky  hill  a  few 
tall  reeds  were  growing  amidst  a  quantity  of  fennel,  to 
vindicate  the  justice  of  the  appellation.  The  ground  is 
perforated  with  several  deep  cavities.  They  might 
have  been  tombs ;  but  were  more  probably  cisterns. 
Close  under  the  village  is  a  deep  well,  whence,  if  the 
identification  be  correct,  must  have  been  the  water 
"  which  filled  the  water-pots  up  to  the  brim."  ^ 
Over  one  of  the  cavities  a  fig-tree  —  the  only  tree,  if 
I  rightly  remember,  on  the  spot  —  spread  its  wide 
green  leaves,  and  recalled  the  shade  of  that  fig-tree  ^ 
under  which  was  seen,  by  the  token  that  called  him  to 
Christ,  the  one  native  of  the  village  whose  name  has 
come  down  to  us,  "  Nathanael  of  Cana  of  Galilee."  ^ 
This  is  all  that  can  be  said  to  identify  the  spot.  Yet, 
if  it  be  the  place,  the  interest  is  enhanced  by  finding 
that  it  stands  at  the  entrance  of  one  of  the  few  wooded 
glens  in  Palestine  which  can  really  claim  to  be  called 
beautiful ;  and  of  which  the  romantic  scenery,  at  least 
to  our  modern  notions,  harmoniously  blends  with  the 
gay  yet  primitive  festivity  of  that  wedding-day  which 
has  cast  its  brio;htness  over  all  the  marriages  of 
Christendom. 

The  glen  leads,  by  a  steep  ascent  of  half  an  hour's 
ride,  into  the  presence  of  a  locality  of  strangely  differ- 
ent associations.  A  huge  wooded  hill,  parted  from  the 
neighboring  mountains  by  a  deep,  dry  watercourse, 
and  called  by  the  neighboring  Arabs  "  Sliafat^  "  or 
'-'- Jafat^^    is,  beyond  all  question,  the  Jotapata^^   of 

1  John  ii.  7. 

2  John  i.  50.  3  John  xxi.  2. 

4  Joseph.  B.  J.  iii.  7.  This,  as  well  as  the  situation  of  Cana,  is  very  well 
given  in  Dr.  Schultz's  map  of  Galilee.  By  the  assistance  of  this  map,  when 
once  in  the  Plain  of  Buttauf,  we  found  these  localities  without  a  guide. 


in.]  NAZARETH.  219 

Josephus.  There  the  Galilean  Jews  Intrenched  them- 
selves m  a  fortress,  of  which  the  ruins  still  remain 
scattered  over  the  hill ;  and  there  Josephus,  by  his  final 
surrender  of  himself  to  the  Roman  army,  saved  the 
life  which  his  writings  have  rendered  so  far  more  val- 
uable than  he  or  Vespasian  could  at  that  time  possibly 
have  anticipated.  The  spot,  in  connection  with  those 
writings,  is  remarkable,  as  an  instance  of  their  general 
exactness,  combined  with  special  inaccuracies.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  precipices  are  here,  as  in  his  account  of 
Jerusalem,  prodigiously  exaggerated.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  one  singular  peculiarity  of  the  place  is  caught 
and  described.  The  hill  is,  as  he  says,  enclosed  in 
other  hills ;  and,  though  so  large  and  lofty  in  itself,  is 
invisible  till  you  are  close  upon  it. 

Good  Friday  was  spent  at  Nazareth.  The  fiirious 
storm  which  on  that  day  raged  through  the  whole  of 
Syria,  rendered  it  impossible  to  do  more  than  Nazareth. 
visit  the  well-known  sanctuaries  in  the  village.^  In 
passing  from  one  to  the  other,  it  was  curious  to  observe 
the  different  Eastern  applications  —  so  different  from 
our  own  —  of  the  names  of  the  great  theological  divis- 
ions of  Christendom.  "  What  is  this  Church  ?  "  I 
asked  from  my  Arab  guide.  "  The  Church  of  Rome," 
he  replied,  meaning  "the  Church  of  New  Rome  —  of 
Constantinople  —  of  the  Roman  Empire  —  of  Greece." 
"  And  this  ?  "  "  The  Catholic  Church  ;  "  meaning  the 
Church  of  the  Greeks  who  have  become  united  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  commonly  called  "  United 
Greeks  "  or  "  Greek  Catholics."  "  And  this  ?  "  "  The 
Latin ; "  meaning  the  Roman  Catholic  ChiuTh,  to 
which  he  himself  belonged.     We   encamped  by  the 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  x.  xiv. 


220  GALILEE.  [III. 

S]3ring  of  the  Annunciation.  Its  source  is  within  the 
small  Greek  Church ;  and  it  thence  flows  out  into  the 
neighboring  olive-grove  to  supply  the  town.  Under 
the  guidance  of  Mr.  Zeller,  the  Protestant  Missionary, 
stationed  at  Nazareth,  we  explored  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  cisterns  on  the  hillside,  which  seem  to  indicate 
both  the  antiquity  of  the  situation,  and  also  the  fact 
that  the  old  town  was  on  a  somewhat  higher  elevation 
than  the  modern.  ■ 

On  the  following  day  we  ascended  Mount  Tabor. 
Mount  Tabor  is  the  easternmost  and  southernmost  ex- 
tremity of  the  forestlike  park  which,  overlapping  the 
Tabor.  plain  of  Asocliis  and  the  hills  of  Nazareth, 

here  runs  out  as  if  for  one  expiring  effort  into  the  green 
woods  which  clothe  the  whole  of  the  lower  part  of  this 
famous  mountain.  Its  connection  with  Barak,  its  dis- 
connection from  the  scene  of  the  Transfiguration,^  I 
have  indicated  elsewhere.  But  there  are  a  few  par- 
ticulars attached  to  its  modern  history  which  demand 
a  notice  here.  The  fortress  of  which  the  ruins  crown 
the  summit  had  evidently  four  gateways,  like  those  by 
which  the  great  Roman  camps  of  our  own  country 
were  entered.  By  one  of  these  gateways,  Mr.  Zeller 
called  my  attention  to  an  Arabic  inscription,  which  he 
had  discovered  on  the  spot,  the  only  one  on  the  moun- 
tain. It  lies  on  a  broken  fragment,  and  runs  as  follows: 
—  "  In  the  name  of  God,  the  Compassionate,  the  Mer- 
ciful, those  that  spend  their  property  for  the  glory  of 
God,  and  do  not  grudge  what  they  have  spent,  will  be 
rewarded.  Their  reward  is  from  their  God,  and  they 
have  nothing  to  fear,  nor  will  they  suffer.  Our  Lord, 
the  mighty  Sultan,  the  victorious,   the  sword  of  the 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  ix. 


m.]  NAZARETH.  221 

world  and  of  the  faith,  the  Sultan  of  Islam,  the  Kmg 
Abubeker,  the  son  of  Khalil,  the  Prince  of  the  Faith- 
fill,  ordered,^  the  building  of  this  blessed  fortress  on  his 
return  from  the  East.  The  commencement  of  the 
work  was  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  fifth  day  of 
the  month  Zilhijy,  in  the  year  607.  During  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Emir  Ahme]idin-Lemin,  the  son  of 
Abdallah,  the  great  King." 

The  contentions  of  the  Holy  Places  have  penetra- 
ted even  to  the  broad  summit  of  this  lonely  mountain. 
It  is  parcelled  out  in  enclosures,  belonging  respectively 
to  the  Greek  and  Latins  ;  one  portion  was  ploughed 
by  the  Mussulmans  to  prevent  its  occupation  by  the 
Christians  ;  but  it  has  been  regained  by  one  or  other 
of  the  rival  churches.  On  the  eastern  extremity  is 
rising  a  Greek  church,  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  fol- 
lowing story,  curious  as  illustrating  many  legends  of 
earlier  times.  A  Wallachian  monk,  of  the  name  of 
Erinna,  is  said  to  have  received  an  intimation  in  his 
sleep  that  he  was  to  build  a  church  on  a  mountain 
shown  to  him  in  a  dream.^  He  wandered  through 
many  countries,  and  found  his  mountain  at  last  in 
Tabor.  There  he  lived  on  a  tree  which  still  remains, 
and  collected  money  from  pilgrims,  which  at  his  death, 
a  few  years  ago,  amounted  to  a  sufficient  sum  to  raise 
the  Church.  He  professed  to  be  more  than  a  hundred 
years  of  age,  and  he  was  remarkable  for  his  long  beard, 
and  for  a  tame  panther,  which,  like  the  ancient  her- 
mits, he  was  supposed  to  have  as  his  constant  com- 
panion. 

1  By  "building"  is  probably  meant  "restoration."  The  date  (in  our 
era)  is  a.  d.  1210.  The  Sultan  spoken  of  is  the  brother  of  Saladin,  gener- 
ally called  SophacUn. 

2  A  similar  story  is  told  of  the  founder  of  S.  John's  College,  Oxford. 


222  GALILEE.  [III. 

On  the  way  between  Tabor  and  Tiberias,  we  were 
received  by  Aghyle  Aga,  a  well-known  Bedouin  or 
half-Bedouin  chief  in  the  neighborhood,  who,  after  a 
life  of  adventures,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  David 
at  the  court  of  Acliish,  had  acquired  a  certain  reputa- 
tion by  the  protection  which  he  had  extended  to  the 
Christians  of  Nazareth  and  the  neio-hborhood  during 
the  disturbances  of  1860.  The  reception  was  interest- 
Bedouin  i"g  ^s  bringing  before  us  several  of  the  well- 
*^''^'-  known  traits  of  Arabian  life  depicted  in  the 

Bible.  The  long  tent  of  black  goat's  hair  was  entirely 
open  to  the  leeward  side  ;  carpets  and  rugs  were 
spread  on  the  ground,  and  a  low  divan  was  slightly 
raised  on  cushions.  The  pegs  of  the  tent  were  rough 
stakes  or  pieces  of  wood.  The  "  hammer "  was  a 
large  wooden  mallet.  The  wife's  tent  was  the  same 
as  the  other,  only  that  no  one  enters  it  besides  herself 
and  the  chief,  and  hence  all  the  valuables  are  kept 
there.  The  meal,  for  the  inadequacy  of  which  Aghyle 
Aga  six  times  over  repeated  the  most  urgent  apologies, 
consisted  of  three  courses.  The  first  was  in  a  larcre 
pewter  dish  filled  with  small  tender  pieces  of  mutton, 
taken  with  the  fingers.  The  second  was  in  a  pewter 
barrel,  filled  with  sour  milk  (^Lebban),  frothed  like 
cream,  drunk  with  a  cup,  and  a  smaller  pewter  bowl, 
filled  with  sweet  milk  (^Haleb^,  to  be  drunk  by  raising 
it  to  the  mouth.  In  both  were  dipped  the  large  flex- 
ible rags  of  Arab  cake  or  bread,  thrown  in  profusion 
on  the  carpets.  The  third  stage  consisted  of  a  larger 
bowl,  filled  with  rice,  which  the  two  chiefs,  who  up  to 
this  time  had  stood  by  watching  our  meal,  now,  when 
requested  to  do  so,  sat  down  and  devoured,  rolling  up 
balls  of  rice  in  the  hollow  of  their  hands,  and  tossing 


III.]  LAKE   OF   GENNESARETH.  223 

tlie  whole  handful  down   their  mouths  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  point  out  in  this  the  familiar 
reminiscences  of  the  tent  of  Abraham  and  the  tent  of 
Jael,  those  two  Biblical  pictures  of  Patriarchal  life. 
There  were  the  entreaties  to  stay,  and  partake  of  the 
hospitality.  "  My  lord,  if  now  I  have  found  favor  in 
thy  sight,  pass  not  away,  I  pray  thee,  from  thy  ser- 
vant." ^  "  Turn  in,  my  lord,  turn  in  to  me."  '^  There 
is  the  meat  from  the  flocks  or  herds  "  tender  and 
good,"  ^  "  hastily  dressed,  and  the  morsel  of  bread  to 
comfort  the  heart ;  "  "  fine  meal  kneaded,  and  made 
into  cakes  on  the  hearth."  *  There  is  the  "  cream  "  ^  in 
"  the  lordly  dish,"  ^  as  well  as  the  sweet  "  milk  instead 
of  water."  There  ^  is  the  host  "  standing  by  "  whilst 
the  guests  did  eat."  ^  There  is  the  wife's  tent  close  at 
hand,  but  free  from  the  intrusion  of  strangers.^  There 
is  the  divan  on  which  the  sleeper  might  recline,  raised 
above  the  level  ground  ;  ^^  and  the  rugs  ^^  or  carpets  to 
cover  him.^2  There  is  the  strong  peg  or  stake  of  the 
tent,  and  the  huge  wooden  mallet  to  drive  it  into  the 
ground,  or  into  the  sleeper's  temples.  ^^ 

On  the  evening  of  that  day  we  reached  the  Lake 
of  Gennesareth.  It  had  been  arranged  that  on  the 
shores  of  its  sacred  waters  we  should  pass  our  Easter 
Sunday.  Far  away  from  the  contentions  which  so 
lamentably  disfigure  the  relations  of  the  various  relig- 

1  Gen.  xviii.  3.  7  Gen.  xviii.  8;  Judges  iv.  19,  25. 

2  Judges  iv.  18.  8  Gen.  xviii.  8. 

8  Gen.  xviii.  7.  9  Gen.  xviii.  9;  Judges  iv.  18,  20. 

4  Gen.  xviii.  .5,  6,  7.  10  Judges  v.  2. 

5  Translated  "  butter."  n  Translated  "  mantle." 

6  Gen.  xviii.  8;  Judges  v.  25.  12  Judges  iv.  18. 

13  Judg.  iv.  21 ;  v.  26. 


224  GALILEE.  III.] 

ious  communities  of  Modern  Jerusalem,  —  that  Easter 
Day  will  be  long  remembered  by  every  member  of  the 
party. 

The  furious  storm  of  Good  Friday,  which,  we  were 
told,  had  made  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  one  sheet  of  snow- 
white  foam,  gradually  cleared  away  on  Easter  Eve. 
Suddenly,  as  we  rode  across  the  desolate  undulations 
of  the  plain  of  Hattin,  we  came  to  the  edge  of  the 
hills  which  overhang  the  lake.  When  1  first  saw  this 
view  nine  years  before,  I  felt,  and  strove  to  express  ^ 
that  it  was  a  moment,  if  any,  when  recollections  of  the 
past  are  too  powerful  for  any  criticism  of  the  actual 
prospect,  to  determine  whether  it  be  tame  and  poor, 
as  some  travellers  have  said,  or  eminently  beautiful,  as 
others.  That  hesitation  on  this  second  sight  of  it  was 
entirely  removed.  No  one  who  stood  on  those  heights 
on  that  evening  could  doubt  the  surpassing  beauty  of 
the  scene  which  lay  before  him,  even  had  it  been 
devoid  of  any  sacred  interest.  In  one  instant,  as  if 
through  a  rent,  opening  in  the  earth  beneath  our  feet, 
flashed  the  whole  expanse  of  the  lake,  as  it  lay  in  its 
deep  basin  a  thousand  feet  below  us.  The  masses  of 
stormy  cloud  which  were  still  flying  to  and  fro,  left 
clear  in  the  northern  sky  the  white  crown  of  Hermon ; 
and  the  falling  sun  threw  its  soft  light  over  the  deep 
descent,  as  we  wound  down  the  tortuous  pathway, 
round  the  ruined  walls  and  battlements  of  Tiberias 
to  our  encampment  on  the  silent  shore,  —  a  silence 
broken  only  by  the  gentle  ripple  of  the  waves  on  the 
rough  pebbly  beach. 

And  hardly  less  beautiful  was  the  dawn  of  the 
Easter  morning,  when  the  sun  behind  a  black  bank  of 

1  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  x.  p.  370. 


m.]  LAKE    OF    GENNESARETH.  225 

cloud  rose  over  the  wall  of  the  mountains  on  the  far- 
ther side,  themselves  still  dark  in  shadow,  and  poured 
down  its  first  rays  upon  the  calm  waters  of  the  lake, 
and  the  gray  tops  of  the  western  hills  were  tinged 
with  golden  light.  .  .  . 

In  a  long  walk  in  the  quiet  afternoon  of  that  Easter 
Day  above  the  shores  of  the  lake  almost  to  its  southern 
end,  I  was  enabled  to  see  more  clearly  than  before  the 
exact  scene  of  the  exit  of  the  Jordan.  It  creeps 
silently  through  a  flat  grassy  plain,  and  winds  peace- 
fully through  the  level.  The  rapid  descent  which  it 
makes  farther  to  the  south  is  not  here  visible.  The 
distant  situation  of  the  opening  of  the  valley  on  this 
plain  through  the  eastern  hills  is  worth  noticing,  as 
showing  how  completely  removed  from  the  shores  of 
the  lake  is  Um-keis  (the  ancient  Gadara),  which  lies  at 
the  head  of  this  valley,  and  therefore  how  entirely 
unsuitable  to  the  incident  of  the  demoniacs  ^  in  the 
Gospel  narrative,  with  which  it  has  sometimes  in  later 
times  been  connected. 

On  the  following  day  we  rode  along  the  whole  of 
the  western  shore  northwards. 

The  general  features  of  the  plain  of  Gennesareth 
are  even  more  marked  than  I  had  before  represented 
them.  It  is  stamped  as  it  were  with  a  peculiar  char- 
acter by  the  deep  rocky  glen  of  the  Valley  of  Doves 
descending  into  it  from  the  southwest.  The  situation 
of  the  ancient  fortress  of  Arbela,  at  the  head  of  this 
precipitous  pass,   makes  it  probable   that  this  rather 

1 1  may  here  take  the  opportunity  of  mentioning  that  a  party  of  English- 
men, who,  in  1861,  explored  the  Wady  Fik  on  the  Eastern  shore  (which  I 
had  given  as  the  probable  scene  of  the  transaction,  Sinai  and  Palestine^  c. 
X.),  have  stated  to  me  considerable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this  identifica- 
tion. 

15 


226  GALILEE.  [ni. 

than  any  town  in  the  level  plain  of  Esdraelon,  is  the 
fortress  of  Betharbel,  in  which,  on  the  Assyrian  inva- 
sion, "  the  mother  was  dashed  to  pieces"  (thrown  down 
the  cliffs  as  it  would  seem),  "upon  her  children."^ 
The  flights  of  wild  hawks,  doves,  and  jays,  of  brill- 
iant plumage,  over  the  rich  plain  more  forcibly  than 
ever  illustrated  "  the  birds  of  the  air  "  in  the  Para- 
bles spoken  by  the  lake -side ;  whilst  the  intermix- 
ture of  corn-fields,  thorn-trees,  rocks,  and  pathways, 
as  represented  in  the  great  Parable  of  the  Sower, 
which  I  noticed  before  ^  in  a  single  spot,  seems  to  be 
characteristic  of  the  whole  locality. 

The  disputed  sites  of  the  cities  of  Gennesareth 
Gennesareth.  must  Still  remain  disputed.  At  Khan  INiin- 
yeh  (or  Ain-et-Tin,)  the  traces  of  artificial  w^ork  on 
the  rock  which  overhangs  the  spring  — ■  cuttings 
as  if  for  streets  or  roads  —  add  some  slight  confir- 
mation to  the  theory  that  this  was  the  situation  of 
Capernaum.^  The  smooth  white  beach  near  Tabigah 
suggests  it  as  the  probable  scene  of  the  interview  with 
the  Seven  Disciples.*  The  solid  structures,  of  which 
the  ruins  remain  at  Tell  Hum,  indicate  a  place  of  im- 
portance ;  but  its  distance  from  the  plain,  the  absence 
of  any  spring,  and  the  slightness  of  the  elevation  on 
which  they  stand,  deprive  it  of  any  special  appropriate- 
ness for  Capernaum. 

From  Tell  Hum  we  rode  to  the  northern  extremity 
of  the  lake.  Here  through  a  level  plain,  almost  a 
morass,  entangled  with  thickets  of  oleander,  which 
cluster  round  its  tributary  brooks,  the  Jordan  passes 
into  the  lake  under  a  group  of  five  isolated  palms.     It 

1  Hosea  x.  14.  3  JUd.  c  x. 

2  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  xiii.  4  John  xxi.  3. 


m.]  SAFED.  227 

is  already  a  tnrbid  stream,  carrying  its  brown  color  far 
into  the  clear  lake.  But  the  swift  and  active  descent 
of  its  upper  course  is  concealed  within  the  walls  of  the 
narrow  gorge  from  which  it  issues  into  the  plain.  The 
scene  well  suits  the  incident  described  by  Josephus,^ 
when  his  horse  plunging  in  the  morass  threw  him  off. 
On  the  gentle  hill  which  rises  immediately  at  the  back 
of  the  plain  may  be  traced  with  sufficient  accuracy  the 
situation  of  the  northern  Bethsaida,  and  the  scene  of 
the  incidents  connected  with  it  in  the  Gospel  history. 
On  the  first  slope  of  the  rising  ground  are  the  vestiges 
of  the  village  (Tell),  supposed  to  mark  the  site  of  the 
old  town.  On  the  second  stao;e  of  the  hill,  imme- 
diately  above,  is  a  broad  green  platform,  where  on  the 
"  much  grass  "  ^  the  multitude  may  have  been  invited 
to  rest.  On  the  third  stage,  at  the  summit  of  the 
eminence,  is  a  bare  ridge,  "  the  desert  place,"  the 
mountain  to  which  our  Lord  may  have  retired  "by 
Himself  alone,"  ^  overlooking  from  end  to  end  the 
whole  lake,  with  the  storm  sweeping  up  it  from  the 
south,  and  His  disciples  vainly  toiling  through  the 
waves  as  the  shades  of  evening  closed  upon  them.^ 

It  was  two  hours  after  sunset  that,  at  the  close 
of  a  long  day's  ride,  we  mounted  the  steep  safea. 
ascent  by  which  Safed  is  approached,  and  it  was  a 
gladdening  sound  to  hear  the  shout  of  welcome,  almost 
resembling  a  British  cheer,  with  which  the  advanced 
post  of  the  Jews  of  Safed  greeted  in  the  darkness  the 
approach  of  the  English  Prince.  Accompanied,  pre- 
ceded, followed  by  these  Jewish  colonists,  some  sing- 
ing, some  playing  on  tambours,  some  on  foot,  some  on 

1  In  his  "  Life,"  §  72.  3  Mark  vi.  31,  35,  40;  John  vi.  15. 

2  Mark  vi.  39  :  John  iv.  10.  4  Mark  vi.  48  ;  John  vi.  16,  17, 18,  23. 


228  GALILEE.  [HI. 

liorseback,  with  tlieir  infants  in  their  arms,  we  reached 
the  encampment  under  the  castle  of  Safed.  It  is 
perched  on  an  elevation  so  conspicuous  as  to  give  rise 
to  the  notion  that  it  may  have  been  "  the  city  set  on  a 
hill."  ^  From  the  summit  of  the  castle,  still  rent  in 
many  parts  from  the  effects  of  the  great  earthquake  of 
1837,  the  view  commands  points  in  some  respects  pe- 
culiar to  itself.  To  the  west  and  north  the  mountains 
of  Galilee  intercept  any  further  prospect.  But  on  the 
east,  the  eye  actually  looks  down  upon  the  flat  tops  of 
the  Trans- Jordanic  hills,  —  those  level,  or  at  least 
gently  undulating  plains,  which  gave  that  region  the 
name  of  "  Misor,"  or  "  the  Downs."  A  conspicuous 
curving  mountain  (''  Kuleib,"  "  the  little  heart ") 
marks  distinctly  the  centre  of  Bashan.  The  sea  of 
Galilee  is  unfolded  in  the  most  precise  and  character- 
istic .  form,  even  to  the  peculiar  shape  of  the  plain  of 
Gennesareth,  the  long  precipitous  defile  of  the  Valley 
of  Doves,  and  the  broad  table  plain  of  Hattin  above, 
crowned  with  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes.  On  the  slope 
of  the  hill  to  the  south,  immediately  facing  Safed,  is 
visible  a  lono;  low  white  buildino;  which  marks  the  site 
of  Meiron,  the  burial-place  of  Hillel  and  Shammai,  the 
centre  of  attraction  to  all  the  Jewish  pilgrims  of 
Northern  Palestine. 

To  be  near  these  tombs,  and  to  be  within  sight  of 
the  sacred  lake  of  Tiberias,  seems  to  have  been  the 
object  of  the  colony  of  European  Jews  (for  such  they 
are),  which  has  congregated  on  the  heights  of  Safed, 
and  rendered  it,  in  spite  of  its  absolute  obscurity  or 
non-existence  in  earlier  times,  the  fourth  of  the  Holy 
Places  in  Palestine  in  the  eyes  of  modern  Judaism. 

1  Sinai  and  Palestine^  c.  x. 


III.]  KEDESH-NAPHTALI.  229 

Safed  is  the  modern  sanctuaiy  of  the  territory 
now  occupied  by  the  tribe  of  Naphtah.  A  i^edesh- 
day's  journey  northwards  over  bare  hills  and  ^^p^*^^^'- 
deep  descending  valleys,  brought  us  to  the  site  of 
the  true  ancient  sanctuary  of  the  same  great  tribe,  — 
Kedesh-Naphtah,  the  ''  Holy  Place,"  the  "  City  of 
Refuge  "  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  the  residence  of 
Barak,  and  the  scene  of  the  murder  of  Sisera,  —  the 
burial-place,  as  the  Jewish  pilgrims  of  the  Middle  Ages 
supposed,  of  Deborah,  Barak,  and  Jael.  Two  green 
plains  succeed  each  other.  The  first,  to  the  south,  is 
marked  by  a  grove  of  terebinths.  Here,  if  at  all  in 
the  neighborhood,  was  probably  "  the  terebinth  of  the 
unloading  of  tents,"  ^  under  which  Heber  the  Kenite 
had  pitched  his  encampment,  and  to  which  Sisera  fled 
for  refuge.  The  second  to  the  north,  is  immediately 
under  a  rising  ground  occupied  by  the  modern  village, 
still  bearing  the  name  of  Kedes.  No  town  in  western 
Palestine,  with  the  exception  of  Jerusalem,  Hebron, 
and  Shechem,  has  such  evident  vestiges  of  antiquity 
and  sacredness,  as  this  remote  northern  sanctuary. 
The  summit  of  the  hill  is  strewed  with  remnants  of 
ancient  oil-presses,  finely  worked  capitals,^  fragments 
of  ancient  walls.  Tombs  of  every  kind  are  found  in 
the  platform  in  front,  and  the  valley  behmd  the  vil- 

1  See  Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Churchy  p.  361,  (Am.  ed.) 

2  In  the  village  the  head  of  a  female  statue  was  offered  to  us.  It  is 
apparently  of  a  late  Phoenician  style. 

I  have  dwelt  at  greater  length  on  Kedesh- Naphtali  because,  though 
described  with  his  usual  care  by  Dr.  Robinson  (Later  Researches,  367- 
369),  there  are  in  his  account  a  few  trifling  inaccuracies: — 1.  He  speaks  of 
only  one  double  sarcophagus.  There  are  two.  —  2.  He  omits  to  mention 
the  eagle  sculptured  on  the  portal  of  the  westernmost  edifice,  which  is 
against  his  hypothesis  of  its  being  a  Jewish  synagogue.  —  3.  He  did  not 
visit  the  other  tombs,  or  the  remains  in  the  village. 


230  GALILEE,  [HI. 

lage ;  tombs  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  —  stone  coffins 
thrust  into  the  side  of  the  hill,  —  richly  ornamented 
sarcophaguses,  raised  on  pedestals,  double,  as  if  for 
man  and  wife.  Not  far  from  these  last  are  the 
remains  of  a  solid  massive  building,  believed  by  Dr. 
Robinson  to  have  been  a  synagogue,  but,  from  the 
eagle  carved  on  its  portal,  as  at  Baalbec,  more  proba- 
bly a  heathen  temple.  Of  all  these  remains  there  is 
absolutely  no  history.  We  can  but  conjecture  that 
they  are  the  continuation,  probably  through  different 
religions,  of  the  original  sanctity  attached  to  the  place 
on  the  first  conquest  of  Joshua  ;  if,  indeed,  that  was 
not  itself  engrafted  on  some  earlier  Canaanite  worship, 
bound  up  with  the  flowing  springs  and  the  green  fields 
that  must  always  have  given  the  spot  a  name  and  a 
significance.  There,  —  within  sight  of  the  city  of 
Jabin,  his  king,  on  the  one  hand  (for  wherever 
Hazor  be,  it  cannot  be  far  distant),  and  the  city  of 
Barak,  his  conqueror,  —  Sisera  perished  by  the  hand 
of  Jael. 

The  hills,  which  between  Safed  and  Kedesh-Naph- 
tali  had  been  mostly  bare,  shortly  afterwards,  farther 
north,  were  tufted  with  trees  and  thickets.  And  on 
each  side  the  prospect  opens  so  as  to  include  the  best 
views  of  this  part  of  the  country.  On  the  west,  the 
hills  of  Naphtali  extend  to  the  sea.  In  the  midst  of 
them  on  a  crested  heio-ht  stands  the  castle  of  Tibnin, 
seat  of  the  Metawileh  chiefs,  whose  tribes  inhabit  the 
whole  of  this  region.  On  the  east,  lies  the  plain  of 
the  Upper  Jordan  ;  the  whole  lake  of  Huleli  (or 
Merom)  spread  out  in  its  wide  basin,  and  on  the  north 
the  white  cone  of  Lebanon,  and  the  white  wall  of 
Hermon.      From  the  castle  of   Tibnin  came    Tamer 


m.]  CJESAREA    PHILIPPL  231 

Bey,  the  Metawileli  chief,^  with  his  magnificent  hawks. 
Far  over  the  hills  the  party  was  scattered  with  a  wide 
dispersion,  such  as  exactly  recalled  the  incidents  so 
well  described  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  the  hawking 
scene  of  the  "  Betrothed."  In  different  groups  we  de- 
scended through  the  woods,  by  the  fine  castle  of 
Hunin,  down  into  the  vale  of  the  Jordan,  crossed  with 
difficulty  its  many  tributaries,  and  finally  assembled  for 
our  last  mid-day  meal  in  Palestine  under  the  venerable 
oak  of  Dan,  which  overhangs  the  Lower  source  of  the 
Jordan. 

That  evening  we  reached  the  upper  source  of  the 
river  at  Banias,^  and  climbed  to  the  little  chapel  of  S. 
George,  above  the  cliff  and  the  cave,  from  which  the 
sacred  river  issues.  Our  first  day  in  the  Holy  Land 
had  led  us  through  the  ancient  cathedral  of  the  patron 
saint  whom  the  English  Crusaders  brought  back  with 
them  from  Palestine ;  our  last,  on  S.  George's  day 
(April  23),  found  us  by  this  small  shrine,  where  he 
is  revered  as  a  Mussulman  saint. 

And  now,  having  followed  the  scenes  of  the  Gospel 
history  through  "  Judea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee,"  we 
parted  from  them  at  the  last  spot  to  which  the  journeys 
of  our  Lord  can  be  traced,  —  "the  coasts  of  Caesarea 
Philippi."  3 

1  The  Metawileh  tribes,  who  inhabit  these  hills,  are  a  colony  of 
"  Shiahs,"  the  Persian  disciples  of  Ali.  M.  Renan  told  me  that  he  had 
seen  pictures  of  the  Shah  of  Persia  in  their  cottages. 

1  mention  this,  because  notices  appeared  in  some  foreign  journals  that 
the  Prince  of  Wales  had  been  received  with  acclamations  by  the  Druze 
chiefs.  The  Druze  chiefs  we  never  saw.  The  mistake  probably  arose 
from  this  one  day's  meeting  with  the  leaders  of  the  Metawileh  tribes  from 
Tibnin. 

2  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  xi.  8  Matt.  xvi.  13. 


HEEMON  AND  LEBANON. 


IV.   HERMON  AND   LEBANON. 


THE  remaining  period  of  our  stay  in  Syria  was  de- 
voted to  those  two  great  parallel  mountain  ranges 
from  which  the  whole  physical  structure  of  Syria 
takes  its  rise.^ 

On  leaving  the  Holy  Land,  the  interest  of  the  coun- 
try changes  its  character.  It  belongs  for  the  most  part 
to  secular  geography  and  history.  But  this  secondary 
interest  is  of  so  peculiar  a  kind  and  attaches  itself  so 
closely  to  the  Land,  of  which  these  regions  form  the 
outposts,  that  a  few  words  may  be  added  to  fill  up  the 
very  imperfect  account  given  of  these  parts  in  my 
former  work. 

We  were  enabled  to  explore  the  two  singular  valleys 
which  intersect  the  lower  regions  of  these  great  moun- 
tain chains.  The  lirst  is  the  Wady-et-teim.  wady-et- 
This  is  the  valley  which  divides  from  each  '^^^^' 
other  the  southern  portions  of  the  Lebanon  and  Anti- 
Lebanon,  as  the  Beka'a  or  Coele  Syria  divides  their 
northern  portions.  It  is  formed  by  the  Hasbany  River, 
—  the  river  of  Hasbeya,  —  which  is,  in  strict  geogra- 
phy though  not  in  history,  the  highest  branch  and 
source  of  the  Jordan.  It  has  a  sacredness  of  its  own, 
though  neither  Biblical  nor  classical,  as  the  chief  seat  of 
the  Druzes,  who  settling  there  in  the  eleventh  century, 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine^  c.  xii. 


236  LEBANON.  [IV. 

under  their  founder  Derazy,  have  since  spread  through 
the  surrounding  hills  and  valleys  in  every  direction. 

The  range  which  forms  the  western  boundary  of  the 
Wady-et-Teim  is,  in  fact,  the  south-eastern  spur  of 
Lebanon ;  and  from  the  highest  ridge  of  this  is  obtained 
one  of  the  best  geographical  views  (if  I  may  so  express 
myself)  that  I  ever  saw.  The  double  lines  of  Leb- 
anon and  Anti-Lebanon  are  full  in  sight ;  and  the 
Jordan  is  visible  in  all  its  upper  stages,  through  the 
whole  length  of  the  valley  of  its  northern  tributary  the 
Hasbany  ;  through  the  whole  valley  of  the  lake  of 
Merom,  down  through  the  opening  gap,  to  the  waters 
still  distinct,  and  seen  for  the  last  time,  of  the  lake  of 
Gennesareth.  The  Litany  "^  (or  Leontes)  flows  beneath. 
It  parts  asunder  the  two  portions  of  Lebanon,  which 
else  would  naturally  be  one  ;  and  which  still  cling  so 
closely  to  each  other  that  the  dividing  river  is  almost 
lost  in  their  narrow  embrace.  This  is  the  peculiarity 
which  has  of  late  years  given  such  a  stimulus  to  the 
curiosity  of  travellers  concerning  it.  From  the  mo- 
ment that  it  leaves  the  broad  plain  of  Coele  Syria,  in 
which  it  rises,  it  plunges  into  a  long  ravine,  so  deep  and 
so  precipitous  that  its  course  can  with  difficulty  be 
traced  from  the  overhanging  brow  of  the  rocky  emi- 
nences which  close  it  on  either  side.  And  it  so  com- 
pletely cuts  off  communication  from  either  side  to  the 
other  that,  but  for  a  singular  freak  of  nature,  no  inter- 
course could  take  place  across  its  banks  for  a  course  of 
nearly  thirty  miles.  This  fortunate  freak  is  the  natu- 
ral bridge  (the  Kuweh),  which  consists  of  a  solid  mass 
of  earth  or  rock  that  has  fallen  over  its  course,  and  in 
that  one  single  spot,  at  the  foot  of  the  rocks,  allows  of 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  xii. 


IV.]  HERMON.  237 

a  transit  from  east  to  west  of  the  stream.^  So  it  rushes 
through  this  dark  and  winding  depth  till,  at  the  first 
wider  opening  which  it  meets,  it  suddenly  turns  west- 
ward under  the  huge  precipice  of  the  castle  of  Esh- 
Shukif  or  Belfort ;  a  castle,  as  its  name  implies,  built 
by  the  Crusaders,  but  raised  on  the  foundations  or  out 
of  the  remains  of  some  older  fortress,  intended  to 
guard  the  gorge,  which  once  more  closes  in  and  con- 
veys this  most  furious,  but  most  secluded,  of  rivers 
into  the  Mediterranean  Sea  not  far  from  Tyre. 

From  this  wild  valley  and  mysterious  river,  the 
passage  over  Mount  Hermon,  or  Anti-Lebanon,  again 
brought  us  within  the  range  of  an  antique  sanctity,  of 
which  the  traces  remain  everywhere,  but  of  which 
the  precise  origin  is  veiled  in  obscurity. 

I  have  elsewhere  ^  shown  that  Mount  Hermon  is 
probably  the  true  scene  of  the  Transfiguration,  the 
"  high  mountain  "  ^  above  Caesarea  Philippi ;  and,  if 
so,  the  only  one  of  all  the  eminences  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament,  which  is  called  "  the  Holy  Moun- 
tain." *  In  the  Old  Testament,  besides  the  names  of 
Hermon,  Senir,  and  Sion,  it  seems  also  to  have  borne 
that  of  Baal-Hermon,  "  the  sanctuary  ^  of  Hermon.'* 

Of  this  sacredness  the  proofs  are  manifold.     It  is,  as 


1  The  description  of  this  bridge  and  of  the  Litany  generally,  is  admirably 
given  by  Dr.  Robinson  {Lat.  Res.  422-424),  though  with  a  touch  of  ex- 
aggeration very  unusual  in  his  sober  pages.  I  cannot  quote  this  work 
without  again  bearing  my  humble  testimony  (with  such  slight  exceptions 
as  I  have  here  and  elsewhere  ventured  to  notice)  to  his  rare  merits  as  an 
accurate,  observant,  and  powerful  describer  of  physical  and  historical 
geography. 

2  Sinai  and  Palestine^  c.  xi.  3  Matt.  xvii.  1. 

4  2  Peter  i.  18. 

5  Judges  iii.  3.  "  Mount  Baal  Hermon. "  See  Mr.  Grove  on  this  word 
iu  the  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 


238  TEMPLES    OF  HERMON.  IV.] 

Dr.  Robinson  truly  remarks,  "  girded  with  ancient 
Temples  of  temples.^  They  are  found  in  all  situations ; 
Hermon.  crowuiug  liills  and  mountain  tops,  or  secluded 
in  valleys  and  deep  gorges.  The  founders  and  wor- 
shippers have  disappeared  for  unknown  ages ;  ^  Avhether 
they  were  Phoenicians  or  Gr?eco-Syrians  we  cannot 
tell;  they  have  left  behind  no  trace  but  these  their 
works,  and  no  record  how  or  why  these  works  were 
erected."  That  on  its  summit,  of  which  some  ruins 
are  still  to  be  traced,^  was  noticed  by  Jerome.  To  this, 
on  its  heights  or  in  its  close  neighborhood,  may  be 
added  no  less  than  eighteen.  Seven  are  to  be  seen 
on  its  more  southern  uplands,  Rukleh,  Kul'at  Bostra, 
Hibbaryieh,  Neby  Sufa,  Deir-el-Ashayr,  Burkush. 
That  of  Neby  Sufa  "  stands  facing  the  east,^  directly 
over  against  Hermon,  in  his  most  imposing  aspect." 
That  of  Hibbaryieh  "  fronts  directly  on  the  great 
chasm  of  Wady  Shiba,  looking  up  the  mighty  gorge, 
as  if  to  catch  the  first  beams  of  the  mornino;  sun  risino* 
over  Hermon."^  That  of  Rukleh,  which  is  further 
east,  "fronts  westward"  also  "towards  the  Mount  of 
Hermon,"  and  is  distinguished  by  a  finely-carved  hu- 
man countenance,  as  if  intended  for  Baal  or  Astarte.^ 
That  of  Deir-el-Ashayr^  fronts  eastward,  and  is  re- 
markable as  consisting  of  a  double  edifice,  one  below 
the  other ;  ^  as  on  a  larger  scale  at  Baalbec. 

Eleven  more   can  be  traced   in  the  passes   of  the 
Anti-Lebanon  westward  of  Damascus.     One,  indeed 

1  Rob.  Lat.  Res.  432.  6  Md.  417. 

2  Ibid.  iii.  418.  6  jMd.  436. 

3  Porter  in  Rob.  Lat.  Res.  432.                     7  Jbid.  437. 

4  Rob.  Lat.  Res.  iii.  426. 

8  Of  this  there  is  a  representation  in  Mr.  Bedford's  Photographs;  proba- 
bly the  only  one  ever  taken  of  the  ruijis. 


IV.]  HERMON.  239 

two,  stand  over  the  source  of  Ain  Fijeh,  as  if  to  con- 
secrate that  most  abundant  of  all  the  Syrian  springs, 
the  supposed  source  of  the  Barada.  Large  traces  of 
another,  also  in  connection  with  the  river,  are  to  be 
seen  at  Kefr  Zeit.^  Another,  of  which  the  many  co- 
lumnar fragments  give  its  name  to  the  village  where 
they  are  fovmd,  "  Kefr-el-Awamid,"  "the  village  of 
the  columns,"  is  near  Abila,  and  must  have  faced  tow- 
ards the  sacred  hill,  now  crowned  by  the  alleged 
tomb  of  Abel ;  the  tomb  itself,  as  it  would  seem,  plant- 
ed on  a  more  ancient  sanctuary.  Two  or  three  cluster 
on  the  slopes  of  the  hill  below  Bludan.  By  one  of 
these  stands  a  clump  of  aged  ilexes,  perhaps,  with  the 
exception  of  that  of  Hazuri,  near  Banias,  the  best  hke- 
ness  in  Syria  of  the  ancient  groves  of  Astarte.  On  a 
rude  altar  among  the  trees,  by  an  immemorial  usage 
which  has  given  to  the  spot  the  name  of  Um-es-Shu- 
kakif,^  "  the  mother  of  fragments,"  the  neighboring 
villagers  are  in  the  habit  of  breaking  earthen  jars. 
The  hill  of  Nebi  Yunas  (the  Prophet  Jonah),  above 
Bludan,  is,  in  like  manner,  fall  of  similar  remains.  At 
its  foot,  in  the  plain  of  Suraya,  are  two  evidently  con- 
secrated to  the  spring  which  gushes  out  from  its  rocks 
(^Aln  Fowar).  Halfway  up  is  a  third;  on  its  summit 
are  two,  one  of  more  antique  appearance  than  the 
other;  both  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  Her- 
mon  and  the  surrounding  valleys.^ 

Two  or  three  other  temples  exist  not  far  off:  Medjil, 
further  south,  and  Ain  Ata,  farther  north,  in  the  plain 

1  Robinson,  Lat.  Res.  478. 

2  Porter's  Five  Years  in  Damascus,  i.  281. 

8  To  this  array  of  heathen  sanctuaries  must  be  added  the  legends  of 
later  Jewish  or  Mussulman  tradition  which  are  given  in  Sinai  and 
Palestine,  c.  xii. 


240  HERMOK  [IV. 

of  the  Beka'a,  or  Coele  Syria.  But  Baalbec  stands  su- 
Baaibec.  preme,  and  may  well  close  the  series  which 
has  been  given  of  the  sanctuaries  of  Anti-Lebanon* 
Its  identification  with  any  Biblical  site  must  remain 
extremely  uncertain.  It  may  possibly  be  Baalath,  the 
frontier  city  of  Solomon,  or  Baal-Hamon,  the  pleasure 
garden  of  the  Canticles,  or  Baal-Hermon,  the  "  sanc- 
tuary of  Baal  in  Hermon,"  or  Baal  Gad^  ("the  gath- 
ering of  Baal,")  "  under  Hermon."  Against  each  of 
these  suppositions  there  are  objections,  which  must 
prevent  us  from  coming  to  any  positive  conclusion  on 
the  subject.  Of  the  general  importance  of  Baalbec  in 
ancient  times,  however,  there  can  be  no  question. 

The  size  and  beauty  of  the  buildings  render  them  at 
once  a  physical  landmark  and  a  historical  monument 
which  no  notice  of  Syria  ought  to  omit.  "  In  vastness 
of  plan  combined  with  elaborateness  and  delicacy  of 
execution,  they  seemed  to  surpass  all  others  in  West- 
ern Asia,  in  Africa,  and  in  Europe."  The  ranges  of 
columns  2  which  give  to  the  edifices  their  peculiar 
grace  belong  to  the  same  age  of  later  Roman  mag- 
nificence which  has  left  so  many  proud  memorials  of 
itself  throuo;hout  the  East.  But  there  are  touches  of 
an  earlier  antiquity  which  give  it  a  true  connection 
with  the  history  of  Palestine  and  Egypt. 

Its  situation  was  probably  fixed  by  the  necessity  of 
a  sanctuary  to  greet  the  travellers  and  merchants  on 
the  great  caravan  route  between  Damascus  and  Tyre, 

1  Baalath  (1  Kings  ix.  28),  Baal-ffa7non,  Cant.  viii.  11,  Baal-liermon^  1 
Chron.  v.  23 ;  Judges  iii.  3.  Baal  Gad,  Joshua  xi.  16.  Several  of  these 
names  may  in  fact  be  synonymous  for  the  same  place.  Baalath  is  advo- 
cated by  Mr.  Hogg  {The  Names  of  Baalbec,  p.  2-4:.)  Baal  Gad  by 
Ritter  (ii.  230). 

2  Eobinson's  Lat.  Res.  517. 


IV.]  BAALBEC.  241 

as  Petra  between  Damascus  and  the  Gulf  of  Elath. 
Its  name,  even  if  we  cannot  connect  it  with  any 
BibHcal  spot,  evidently  points  to  its  connection  with 
Baal,  —  "the  assembly  or  gathering  of  Baal,"  ^  —  as 
its  Greek  name  "  Heliopolis  "  shows  the  identification 
of  Baal  with  the  Sun.  Baal  was  in  Greek  mythology, 
identified,  as  the  supreme  God,  with  Jupiter;  as  the 
Sun-god  with  Apollo ;  and  hence  in  the  descriptions 
of  different  temples  included  in  the  vast  sanctuary  has 
arisen,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  a  confusion 
between  the  two  which  it  is  now  almost  impossible  to 
rectify. 2  Like  the  temples  of  Baal  ^  at  Samaria  and  at 
Gades,*  it  included  the  inferior  deities  as  well  as  the 
chief  Sun-god  himself.  "  To  the  Gods  of  Heliopolis  " 
is  the  inscription  which  still  testifies  to  the  plurality  of 
divinities  worshipped  there. 

The  influence  of  Egypt  is  indicated  not  only  by  the 
legend  of  the  sacred  image  ^  brought  from  the  Egyptian 
city  of  the  sun,  — "  On"  "Heliopolis,"  but  by  some 
striking  peculiarities  of  Egyptian  architecture  :  as  for 
example,  the  Egyptian  symbol  of  a  winged  globe  is  in 
one  of  the  recesses  of  the  great  court ;  an  Egyptian 
capital  crowns  one  of  the  columns  of  the  lesser  Tem- 
ple ;  and  the  crested  eagle  with  its  outspread  wings 
in  the  portal  occupies  the  same  relative  position,  and 
apparently  represents  the  same  idea,  as  the  blue  wings 
over  the  Egyptian  doorways.     "  Under  the  shadow  of 

1  "  Bekka,"  is  the  same  word  as  "  Mecca,"  the  m  and  b  being  inter- 
changed as  in  the  name  Baalbec  itself,  sometimes  Mnalhec.  Bee  is  to 
press,  as  in  a  crowd;  Mek,  to  suck  out  as  a  young  camel  the  milk  from  the 
udder.     I  derive  this  information  from  Dr.  Vandyck,  of  Beirut. 

2  See  Mr.  Hogg  on  the  Names  of  Baalbec,  p.  47. 
8  2  Kings  X.  26,  27. 

*  Liv.  xxi.  22. 

6  Macrobius,  Saturn,  i.  23  (Robinson's  Lat.  Res.  518.) 
16 


242  HERMON.  [IV. 

thy  wings  shall  be  my  refuge,"  is  the  more  general 
expression  in  which  the  figure  appears  in  the  Biblical 
imagery.  "  The  son  of  righteousness  shall  rise  with 
healing  in  his  wings,^^  ^  is  the  figure  which  is  more 
directly  illustrated  by  the  eagle  of  Baalbec. 

Finally,  the  huge  substructions  of  the  outer  enclos- 
ure probably  point  to  the  earliest  foundation  of  the 
building,  Phoenician,  Jewish,  or  Syrian.  The  three 
vast  stones,  which  for  a  long  period  gave  to  the  whole 
building  the  name  of  the  "  Threestone  "  {^TriUtJiOTi), 
exceed  in  size  even  those  of  Hebron  or  Jerusalem, 
and  with  the  still  vaster  stone  ^  on  which  they  rest, 
and  which  has  nearly  escaped  observation  from  its 
being  also  the  corner-stone  of  the  wall,  present  the 
most  £i;io;antic  masses  of  hewn  stone  that  are  to  be 
found  in  the  world.  In  the  adjacent  quarry  are  to 
be  seen  the  stones  still  standing  cut  out  of  the  rock, 
like  tall  trees  waiting  to  be  felled  ;  one  already  lies 
prostrate  with  the  lines  drawn  across  its  two  ends,  as 
if  for  the  cutting  off  of  the  unfinished  part. 

Within  the  precincts  of  the  temple  of  Baalbec,  the 
worship  of  Baal  lingered  to  the  latest  days  of  Pagan- 
ism,^ with  a  union  of  licentiousness  and  ferocity  which 
renders  the  spot  a  memorial  of  the  ancient  Canaanite 
religion,  on  its  darker  side,  as  its  magnificence  and 
beauty  recall  the  brighter  and  nobler  side  of  the  faith 
of  the  whole  ancient  world. 

I  have  given  this  brief  summary  of  the  sanctuaries 
of  the  Anti-Lebanon,  because  some  of  them  were  new 
to  me,  and  because  attention  has  hardly  been   suffi- 

1  Malachi  iv.  2. 

2  It  is  of  a  dai-ker  color  and  is  hewn  away  at  the  top.      It  is  sixty-eight 
feet  long;  the  others  are  sixtj^-four. 

s  Eobinson's  Lat.  Res.  522,  523. 


IV.]  DAMASCUS.  243 

ciently  called  to  tlie  number  of  temples  wliicli  attest 
its  ancient  sanctity. 

In  point  of  time,  in  the  Prince's  tour,  Baalbec  in- 
tervened between  the  two  chief  cities  of  the  Anti- 
Lebanon  and  Lebanon,  Damascus  and  Beirut.  It  was 
after  leaving  Hasbeya  and  Rasheya,  both  memorable 
as  being  the  first  scenes  of  the  massacres  of  1860,  — 
that  we  approached  Damascus  by  that  splen-  Damascus. 
did  view  ^  which  I  need  not  here  again  describe,  but 
which  still  appeared  to  me  to  stand  amongst  the  fore- 
most in  the  world.  There  are  other  views  more  beau- 
tiful or  more  instructive.  There  can  hardly  be  another 
at  once  so  beautiful  and  so  instructive.  "  This  is 
indeed  worth  all  the  toil  and  danger  which  it  has 
cost  me  to  come  here,"  was  the  expression  used  but 
a  few  days  later  on  the  same  spot  by  the  distinguished 
writer^  whose  premature  death  at  Damascus,  almost 
immediately  afterwards,  gave  a  mournful  significance 
to  w^ords  which  every  traveller  will  feel  to  be  true. 

Our  descent  to  the  city  was  accompanied  by  the 
crowd  and  tumult  which  always  greeted  the  Prince's 
arrival.  But  it  is  worth  noticing,  as  a  proof  of  the 
deeply  seated  irritation  of  the  Mussulman  population 
of  Damascus  against  the  Powers  of  Christendom,  that, 
here  alone  of  all  the  Eastern  cities  through  which  he 
passed,  was  there  any  indication  of  a  wish  to  withhold 
the  respect  due  to  his  rank  and  position.  Along  the 
streets  and  bazaars  many  a  Mussulman  remained  sullen 
and  immovable  on  his  seat,  instead  of  rising  to  salute 
the  long  cavalcade  as  it  approached.     A  message  from 

1  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  xii. 

2  Henry  Thomas  Buckle  died  at  Damascus,  May  29, 1862. 


244  DAMASCUS.  [IV. 

the  Pasha  afterwards  corrected  this  unusual  sign  of 
aversion  to  the  appearance  of  a  Christian  Prince.  But 
the  natural  feeling  of  the  populace  was  not  to  be 
mistaken. 

It  was  in  the  interval  between  my  two  visits  that 
the  terrible  tragedy  had  taken  place,  which  will  render 
the  summer  of  1860  forever  dark  in  the  annals  of 
Damascus. 

The  story  of  these  events,  which  we  heard  on  the 
spot  from  eye-witnesses,  has  been  told,  and  will  doubt- 
less often  be  told  again  in  a  fuller  shape  than  can  be 
given  here.  But  the  view  of  the  Christian  quarter,  as 
we  saw  it,  will  gradually  disappear,  and  with  it  the 
actual  monument  (so  to  speak)  of  the  great  catastrophe. 
From  well-built  streets  we  passed  into  a  vast  scene 
of  ruin,  extending  over  probably  a  fourth  part  of  the 
city.  A  few  buildings  were  rising  again,  but  most  of 
the  houses  remained  nearly  in  the  condition  in  which 
they  were  discovered  after  having  been  fired  and 
plundered.  In  those  of  the  wealthy  merchants  the 
traces  of  gilding  and  painting  still  remained  on  the 
broken  walls.  The  great  church  of  the  Greek  Patri- 
archarte  of  Syria,  which  had  for  many  generations  been 
transferred  to  Damascus  from  Antioch,  and  has  been 
since  these  events  transferred  from  Damascus  to  Bei- 
rut, is  shattered  to  pieces.  Mosaics,  marble  columns, 
cloisters,  have  all  disappeared.  One  vast  mosaic  alone 
of  the  Virgin  is  left,  riddled  with  shot ;  and  the  mar- 
ble pavement  of  the  altar  can  still  be  traced,  to  which 
the  Christians  fled  for  refuge,  and  were  there  slaugh- 
tered by  hundreds,  like  the  Jews  in  the  last  siege  of 
Jerusalem.  Abd-el-Kader,  the  soldier  and  theologian 
united  in  one,  whose  heroic  resistance  to  the  fanaticism 


IV.]  DAMASCUS.  245 

of  his  co-religlonists  furnishes  so  rare  an  example  of 
this  virtue,  rare  both  to  Mussulmans  and  Christians, 
received  with  graceful  modesty  the  compliments  which 
the  Prince  paid  to  him  for  his  conduct  on  this  occasion. 
"  It  was  no  more  than  my  duty.  My  religion  would 
not  allow  me  to  do  otherwise  than  I  did."  So  deep  an 
impression  had  been  made  upon  his  mind  by  the  trans- 
action, that,  when  asked  some  questions  respecting  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  only  remark  which  he 
made  in  answer  was  that  he  believed  the  massacres  of 
Damascus  to  have  been  foretold  by  the  Prophet  Isaiah 
—  alluding,  no  doubt,  to  the  words  "  Damascus  shall 
be  a  ruinous  heap,"  ^  —  as  true  of  the  city  after  this 
devastation  by  its  own  inhabitants,  as  after  any  of  its 
many  sieges  by  foreign  invaders. 

Of  the  antiquities  and  traditional  localities  of  Da- 
mascus, I  saw  much  more  than  on  my  former  visit, 
chiefly  through  the  kindness  and  intelhgence  of  the 
excellent  Presbyterian  missionary,  Mr.  Robson. 

The  great  Mosque,  once  the  Church  of  S.  John,  for- 
merly a  heathen  temple,  till  the  last  two  years  had 
been  closed  aojainst  Christians.  The  main  cause  of 
this  exclusion  was  the  fear  lest  they  should  gain  access 
to  a  sacred  room,  where  (as  in  the  Mosque  of  Omar  at 
Jerusalem)  every  prayer  is  presumed  to  be  granted. 
It  is  a  small  chamber,  begrimed  with  dust,  and  covered 
with  the  names  of  Mussulman  pilgrims,  in  what  is 
called  the  Minaret  of  Isa  (Jesus),  so  called  from  the 
belief  that  on  that  minaret,  and  into  that  chamber,  He 
will  descend  to  judge  the  world. 

The  "  Place  "  or  Mosque  of  Abraham,  at  Birzeh, 
about  four  miles  from  Damascus,   to  which  attention 

1  Isaiah  xvii.  1. 


246  DAMASCUS.  [IV. 

had  been  called  since  my  first  visit,  I  now  saw,  and 
have  elsewhere  described  at  length. ^  In  itself  it  has 
but  little  interest.  But  its  situation  is  remarkable,  in 
the  corner  of  the  vast  plain,  just  where  the  bare  hills, 
intersected  by  a  deep  ravine,  descend  on  the  mass  of 
verdure  which  reaches  up  to  the  very  foot  of  the 
rocks.  Its  connection  with  Abraham  is  the  oldest 
local  tradition  which  can  be  ascertained  in  or  around 
Damascus. 

The  ''  Straight  Street,"  2  the  "  Via  Recta  "  of  the 
Roman  city,  is  apparent  to  any  careful  observer.  The 
eastern  entrance  of  the  main  thoroughfare  of  the  mod- 
ern town  is  a  triple  gateway  of  Roman  architecture. 
It  is  evident  that  each  of  its  three  arches  opened 
upon  a  street  —  the  central  arch  on  the  broad  highway 
—  the  two  lesser  ones  on  the  side  streets,  parted  from 
the  main  street  by  colonnades,  of  which  a  few  frag- 
ments still  remain.  For  about  a  hundred  yards,  the 
straight  direction  of  this  thoroughfare  is  still  discern- 
ible. It  is  then  choked  up  by  houses  and  bazaars  ;  but 
enoup-h  remains  to  prove  that  it  once  ran,  like  all  the 
main  streets  in  the  rectangular  cities  of  the  Syro-Gre- 
cian  or  Syro-Roman  times,  right  through  Damascus. 
The  traditional  "  house  of  Judas,  "  where  St.  Paul 
lodged,  is  sufficiently  within  the  track  to  render  the 
tradition  possible. 

From  Damascus  we  turned  westward,  and  by  tlie 
route  of  Ain  Fijeh,  Abilah  and  Baalbec,  reached  Beirut 
on  the  6th  of  May.  This  was  the  last  of  the  Prince's 
remarkable  approaches  to  the  great  Eastern  cities,  and 

1  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Jewish  Church,  p.  532,  (Am.  ed.) 

2  Acts  ix.  14. 


IV.]  BEIRtlT.  247 

demands  special  notice  from  its  contrast  to  the  entry 
into  Damascus.  The  welcome  from  tlie  Christian  pop- 
ulation —  now  swelled  far  beyond  its  original  propor- 
tions by  the  immigration  of  the  fugitives  from  Damascus 
—  was  very  striking.  The  ever  deepening  and  multi- 
plying crowd  —  the  women  wrapped  in  their  white 
sheets  —  monks,  soldiers,  beggars,  mingling  in  the 
procession,  —  the  Greek  clergy  standing  by  the  road- 
side throwing  up  incense  as  the  Prince  passed,  —  boys 
hanging  on  the  branches  of  the  wayside  trees,  inev- 
itably, from  their  posture  and  their  eastern  costume, 
recalling  the  story  and  the  pictures  of  Zacclneus, —  the 
dust  thickening,  till  the  whole  scene  was  enveloped  as 
if  in  a  dense  cloud,  —  this  was  "  the  day  the  like  of 
which,"  as  it  was  said  at  the  time,  "  Beirut  had  never 
seen  before."  They  marvelled  much  to  see  the  Prince 
enter  in  his  simple  travelling  costume,  without  a  crown 
on  his  head,  or  even  a  white  plume  in  his  hat ;  but 
they  consoled  themselves  with  the  thought,  that, 
had  he  travelled  in  royal  pomp,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  him  to  have  seen  anything. 

From  Beirut  the  Prince  visited  Tyre  and  Sidon  ^  on 
the  south,  and  the  entrance  of  the  Lycus  or  Dog  River 
on  the  north. 

When  I  had  visited  this  spot  in  1853,  the  inscrip- 
tions and  sculptures,  which  have  made  it  so  ^^^  p 
famous,  had  been  very  imperfectly  deci-  ^*^^^" 
phered.  Since  that  time,  the  researches  and  the 
contests  of  scholars  have  fixed  the  attention  of 
travellers  on  these  curious  memorials,  here  alone  in 
the  world   united,  of  the   three    ancient   Empu'es  of 

1  See  Sinai  and  Palestine,  c.  vi. 


248  BEIRtfT.  [IV 

Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Rome  —  to  which,  in  more  modem 
times,  have  been  added  the  marks  of  the  early  Empire 
of  the  Turks,  and  the  present  Empire  of  the  French. 
These  two  more  recent  inscriptions  may  be  briefly 
dismissed.  The  first,  left  by  Selim  I.,  the  conqueror 
of  Egypt  and  Palestine,  is  near  the  bridge  which  spans 
the  river.  The  second  was  written  to  commemorate 
the  occupation  of  Syria  by  the  French  army  in  1860.^ 
But  those  of  the  three  former  Empires  are  of  perma- 
nent interest,  the  more  so  as  their  gradual  resuscita- 
tion from  the  neglect  of  centuries  has  kept  paca  with 
the  gradual  advance  of  a  more  critical  knowledge  of 
the  ancient  world ;  and  they  have  thus  become,  as  it 
were,  water-marks  of  its  rising  tide.  The  first  that 
attracted  the  attention  of  modern  travellers  was  the 
Latin  inscription  of  the  Emperor  Antoninus  to  com- 
memorate the  cutting  of  the  Roman  road  through  the 
pass.  This,  which  remained  unobserved  through  the 
Middle  Ages,  was  not  beyond  the  comprehension  of 
the  travellers  of  the  17th  and  18th  centuries  ;  and  they 
accordingly  have  all  noted  and  copied  it.  But  the 
others,  which  have  within  the  last  few  years  riveted 
the  regards  of  Europe,  were  then  hardly  thought 
worth  a  passing  remark.  Maundeville  imagined  them 
to  be  "  perhaps  the  representations  of  some  persons 
buried  hereabouts."  Pococke  saw  in  them  only  "  some 
small   figm'es  of  men  in  relief  ....  very  much  de- 


1  It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  the  French  army  erased  one  of  the 
ancient  inscriptions  in  order  to  substitute  their  own.  This  is  not  the  case. 
The  tablet  on  which  their  inscription  (questionable,  perhaps,  under  any 
circumstances)  is  written,  though  ancient,  was  blank.  It  is  the  one  marked 
by  Dr.  Robinson  {Lat.  Res.  p.  619),  who  saw  it  in  1852,  as  "No.  1,  square 
at  top;  no  fij^re,  apparently  no  sculpture." 


IV.]  BEIRUT.  249 

faced  by  time."  ^  The  Egyptian  scholars  first  demanded 
for  them  the  celebrity  which  they  have  since  acquired. 
M.  De  Saulcy  afterwards  denied  that  any  were  Egyp- 
tian, and  claimed  them  all  for  Assyria.  It  is  now  cer- 
tain that  of  the  nine  tablets  three  are  Egyptian, 
and  six  Assyrian  ;  although  it  may  be  argued  ftirther  ^ 
that  Egyptian  tablets  have  been,  in  some  instances, 
appropriated  by  the  Assyrian  invaders  six  centuries 
afterwards,  as  one,  at  least,  has  been  appropriated  by 
the  French  invaders  nearly  three  thousand  years 
afterwards. 

It  is  on  these  tablets  alternating  along  the  face  of 
the  cliff  upon  the  ancient  road,  that  the  interest  of 
the  Bibhcal  student  is  chiefly  fixed. 

There,  side  by  side,  we  encounter  the  figures  of  the 
earliest  and  latest  oppressors  of  Israel,  —  Rameses 
and  Sennacherib.^  Kameses  must  have  passed  by  that 
road  at  a  time  when  the  course  of  Sacred  history  had 
hardly  penetrated  into  Syria.  His  memorials  can 
scarcely  seem  more  ancient  to  us  than  they  did  to  the 
first  Grecian  travellers  who  saw  and  recorded  these  or 
like  vestiges  of  his  conquests.  When  we  trace  the 
well-known  figures  —  exactly  as  we  see  them  on  the 
temples  of  Thebes  ^  —  the  King  and  the  God,  as  usual, 
giving  and  receiving  offerings  —  it  is  with  much  the 

1  See  Robinson,  Lat.  Res.  p.  623. 

2  Ibid.  622. 

8  See  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Jewish  Churchy  p.  100,  (Am.  ed.) 
4  The  Egyptian  sculptures  are  less  distinct  than  the  Assyrian.  But  the 
figures  are  unmistakably  Egyptian ;  and  though,  as  I  saw  ttiem,  it  was 
difficult  to  conceive  how  Dr.  Lepsius  could  have  read  the  hieroglyphics, 
yet  it  was  equally  difficult  to  conceive  how  Dr.  Robinson  (p.  620)  and 
others  should  have  failed  to  see  the  figures.  The  fact  is  that,  as  he  himself 
suggests,  "  under  different  conditions  of  light  and  shade,"  both  sculp- 
tures and  inscriptions  become  more  or  less  visible  or  invisible. 


250  BEIRUT.  [IV. 

same  sense  of  remote  antiquity  as  that  with  which 
Herodotus  (if  so  be)  must  have  chmbed  the  same 
pathway,  and  "  in  the  part  of  Syria  called  Palestine  "  ^ 
(to  use  his  own  words),  "  himself  saw  the  monuments 
of  Sesostris  still  in  existence." 

But  the  Assyrian  tablets,  if  they  do  indeed  contain 
the  name,  as  they  undoubtedly  represent  the  country 
and  empire,  of  Seyinacherib^  have  a  still  more  striking 
connection  with  the  ancient  history  of  Israel  and  of 
Syria.  In  the  speech  which  is  reported  as  delivered 
by  his  messenger  in  the  historical  narrative  of  the 
Prophet  Isaiah,2  the  King  of  Assyria  thus  describes 
his  march  into  Palestine  :  —  "  By  the  multitude  of  my 
chariots  am  I  come  up  to  the  height  of  the  mountains, 
to  the  '  edge '  of  Lebanon ;  and  I  have  cut  down  the 
height  of  his  cedars  and  the  beauty  of  his  fir-trees ; 
and  I  entered  into  the  height  of  his  border,  and  the 
forest  of  his  '  park.'  "  "  I  have  digged  and  drunk 
water  ;  "  "I  have  made  a  ' bridge.'  " ^ 

"  The  multitude  of  his  chariots,"  such  as  they  are 
seen  on  the  Assyrian  monuments  of  the  farther  east, 
must  have  wound  their  difficult  way  through  these 
romantic  passes,  up  to  the  very  *'  heights  of  the  moun- 
tam  "  rancres,  and  along;  "  the  extreme  edo;es  of  Leba- 


1  Herod,  ii.  106.  The  word  which  Herodotus  uses  is  orrfkai.  But  this 
is  frequently  applied  to  slabs  or  tablets,  as  well  as  to  pillars;  and  there 
can  thus  be  but  little  doubt  that  these  are  the  monuments  Avhich  he  pro- 
fesses to  have  seen.  When  we  combine  this  fact  with  the  frequent 
representations  of  a  king  bearing  the  same  name  (even  although  that 
name  may  be  wrongly  read),  on  the  Egyptian  temples,  in  connection  with 
acts  of  conquest  and  triumph,  we  may  safely  argue  (in  contradiction  to 
recent  doubts),  that  there  is  a  solid  foundation  for  the  history  of  a  great 
Egyptian  conqueror,  whose  arms  extended  as  least  as  far  as  Syria. 

2  Isa.  xxxvii.  24,  25. 

8  £-Qi]Ka  ye(j>vpav.     Isa.  xxxvii.  25. 


IV.]  THE  CEDARS.  251 

non,"  —  along  the  banks  of  the  streams  which  he 
drained  off  by  his  armies,  or  over  which  he  threw 
bridges  for  them  to  pass.  But  there  was  one  spot 
more  sacred  than  all,  to  which  the  conqueror  boasts 
that  he  had  penetrated.  He  had  gone  into  "  the  ex- 
tremest  height  of  Lebanon,  the  forest  of  its  park  :  " 
and  there  he  had  cut  down  with  ruthless  insolence  "  the 
height  of  its  cedars,  the  beauty  of  its  fir-trees."  ^ 

These  words  may  well  be  taken  as  an  introduction 
to  the  next  scene  to  which  the  course  of  our  The  Cedars. 
journey  led  us.  We  can  hardly  fail  to  see  their  ap- 
phcation,  if  not  to  the  actual  grove  of  the  present  Ce- 
dars of  Lebanon,  at  any  rate  to  spots  so  like  it,  that 
the  description  of  the  one  may  justly  be  regarded  as 
the  description  of  the  other. 

Often  as  the  Cedars  have  been  seen,  yet,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  first  view  of  Niagara,  or  the  first  view  of 
Jerusalem,  an  interest  attaches  to  each  new  impression 
formed  by  every  traveller  who  for  the  first  time  ap- 
proaches them.  Li  1853  I  had  been  prevented  from 
visiting  them  by  the  snow  which  at  that  early  season 
rendered  them  inaccessible,  and  on  the  present  occasion 
the  same  obstacle  shut  us  out  from  the  usual  route  over 
the  crest  of  the  mountain  from  Baalbec,  or  even  over 
its  western  shoulder  by  Afka.  For  this  reason  we 
approached  the  place  from  Tripoli.  As  the  valley  of 
Hasbeya  is  the  sacred  country  of  the  Druzes,  so  the 
valleys  and  hills  between  Tripoli  and  Ehden,  converg- 
ing towards  the  deep  glen  of  the  "  Holy  River,"  the 
Kadisha,  —  probably  so  called  from  its  numerous  mon- 

1  I  have  left  this  rendering  of  the  word  in  the  English  version  un- 
changed. It  may,  however,  be  "cypresses"  or  "pines,"  or,  perhaps 
even  "  young  cedars." 


252  THE   CEDARS.  [IV. 

asteries,  —  form  the  Kesrouan^  the  sacred  country  of 
the  Maronites,  the  fierce  Christian  sect  with  which  the 
Druzes  are  at  deadly  war.  On  the  edge  of  the  river 
is  Kanobin  (^Coenohiurn) ^  the  residence  of  their  Patri- 
arch. On  the  heights  above  is  their  chief  village  Eh- 
den.  It  is  from  this  village  that  the  ascent  is  made  to 
the  Cedars. 

A  wide  view  opens  of  the  long  terraces  of  the  Mo- 
raines ^  (to  use  the  technical  name)  of  ancient  glaciers 
descending  into  the  valley.  A  green  slip  of  cultivated 
land  reaches  up  into  the  verge  of  their  desolate  fields. 
Behind  them  is  a  semicircle  of  the  snowy  range  of  the 
summit  of  Lebanon.  Just  in  the  centre  of  the  A^ew, 
—  in  the  dip  between  the  Moraines  and  the  snow-clad 
hills  beyond,  —  is  a  single  dark  massive  clump,  the 
sole  spot  of  vegetation  that  marks  the  mountain  wil- 
derness. This  is  the  Cedar  grove.  It  disappears  as  we 
ascend  the  intervening  range,  and  does  not  again  pre- 
sent itself  till  we  are  close  upon  it.  Then  the  exact- 
ness of  the  Prophetic  description  comes  out.  It  is 
literally  on  the  very  "  edge  "  of  the  height  of  Lebanon, 
a  "  park  "  or  "  garden  "  of  the  forest ;  as  truly  as  the 
"  Jardin  "  or  "  garden  "  well  kno\\Ti  to  Swiss  travellers 
in  the  bosom  of  Mont  Blanc.  It  is  indeed  worthy, 
from  its  mysterious  elevation  and  seclusion,  to  be  ranked 
by  the  Prophet  Ezekiel  as  the  *'  Garden  of  God."  2    It 


1  See  J.  H.  Hooker,  M.  D.,  on  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon,  Nnt.  Hht.  Rev. 
V.  12,  which  contains  the  most  complete  scientific  account  of  the  cedars. 

2  Ezek.  xxxi.  8,  9.  "The  Cedars  in  the  Garden  of  God  ...  all  the 
trees  of  Eden  that  were  in  the  Garden  of  God  envied  him."  Gesenius 
interprets  Eden  here  of  the  actual  village,  often  mentioned  in  these  pages, 
Ehden.  It  is  said  hy  Arabic  scholars,  that  the  difference  of  orthography- 
is  too  great  to  admit  of  this  identification.  But  the  comparison  of  the 
Cedar  Grove  to  the  "  Garden  of  God"  remains  unshaken. 


PLAN   OP   THE   CEDAK3   OF   LEBANON,   AS   SURVEYED  BY   COHJIANDEll   A.    L.    MANSELL,   E.N. 

{PMished  by  permission  o/ADMiaAL  TViSHINOTON,  K.N.) 
1  print  indicate  the  number  of  trees  in  eacli  group ;  tlie  figures  in  italics,  the  height  in  feet  above  the  level  of  the  i 


IV.]  THE   CEDARS.  253 

stands  as  if  on  an  island  eminence,  broken  into  seven  ^ 
knolls,  of  which  six  are  arranged  round  the  seventh,  5 
square  mount  in  the  midst  of  which  stands  a  rude 
Maronite  chapel.  This  variation  of  level  and  outline 
makes  the  whole  group  a  kind  of  epitome  of  forest 
scenery.  The  outskirts  of  the  eminence  are  clothed 
with  the  younger  trees,  whose  light  feathery  branches 
veil  the  more  venerable  patriarchs  in  the  interior  of 
the  grove.  This  younger  growth,  which  has  entirely 
sprung  2  up  within  the  last  two  centuries,  amounts  now 
to  more  than  three  hundred.  The  older  trees,  which 
are  so  different  in  appearance  from  the  others  as  to 
seem  to  belong  to  a  different  race,  are  now  about 
twelve  in  number.  Their  forms  are  such  as  must 
always  have  impressed  the  imagination  of  those  who 
saw  them.  Their  massive  trunks,  clothed  with  a  scaly 
texture,  almost  like  the  skin  of  living  animals,  and  con- 
torted with  all  the  multiform  irregularities  of  age,  may 
well  have  suggested  those  ideas  of  regal,  almost  divine, 
strength  and  solidity  which  the  Sacred  Writers  ascribe 
to  them.  They  stand  at  the  apex,  so  to  say,  of  the 
vegetable  world.  "  From  the  Cedar  tree  that  is  in 
Lebanon  "  downwards  extends  the  knowledge  of  Solo- 
mon.^ "  To  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon  "  upwards  reaches 
the  destruction  of  the  trees  from  the  burning]:  bramble 
of  Jotham.*  The  intermarriage  of  the  inferior  plants  ^ 
with  the  Cedar  is  the  most  inconceivable  of  all  pre- 


1  Dr.  Hooker  mentions  nine  {Nat.  Hist.  Rev.  v.  13),  and  this  is  the  num- 
ber brought  out  in  the  accompanying  map,  engraved  by  permission  of 
Admiral  Washington  from  the  survey  of  Captain  Manseil,  R.  N".,  of  The 
Firefly.  The  variation  is  occasioned  by  reckoning  within  the  circle  two 
outlying  hillocks. 

2  br.  Hooker,  p.  13.  4  Judges  ix.  15. 

3  1  Kings  iv.  33.  5  2  Kings  xiv.  9. 


254  THE    CEDARS.  [IV. 

sumption.  The  shivering  of  their  rock-hke  stems  ^  by 
the  thunderbolt  is  hke  the  shaking  of  the  sohd  moun- 
tain itself. 

In  ancient  days  the  grove  must  have  been  much 
more  extensive,  or  rather,  perhaps,  the  great  trees 
then  overspread  the  whole.  Now  they  are  huddled 
too^ether  on  two  or  three  of  the  central  knolls,  and  the 
peculiar  grace  of  the  Cedar,  as  we  see  it  in  Europe, 
with  its  long  sweeping  branches,  feathering  down  to 
the  ground,  is  there  unknown.  In  one  or  two  instan- 
ces the  boughs  of  these  aged  trees  are  held  up  by  a 
younger  tree  ;  others  again  of  the  smaller  ones,  whose 
trunks  are  decayed,  are  actually  supported  in  the  gi- 
gantic arms  of  their  elder  brethren.  But  in  earlier 
times  the  breadth  and  extent  of  the  trees  seems  to  be 
as  much  noticed  as  their  height  and  solidity.  The 
Cedar  is  the  model  of  the  "  spreading  abroad  "  ^  — 
the  constant  "growth"  of  the  righteous  man;  his 
boughs  are  "multiplied,"  and  "become  long,"  "fair," 
"  thick,'  "  overshadowing  "  ^  in  "  length  "  and  in  "  mul- 
titude." So  viajorous  and  vast  was  the  ancient  life  of 
the  Cedars  that  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  snows  and  waters 
of  Lebanon  were  gathered  up  into  them.  They  are 
"  filled,"  their  "  root  is  by  great  waters  ;  "  "  the 
waters "  make  them  great,  "  the  deep  sets  them  up 
on  high."  * 

The  spot  thus  becomes  a  centre  to  all  the  various 

1  Ps.  xxix.  5.  2  Ps.  xlii.  13. 

8  Ezek.  XXX.  3,  5,  7,  8. 

4  Ezek.  xxxi.  4,  5,  7.  "  The  rills  from  the  surrounding  heights  collect 
on  the  upper  flat  and  form  one  stream,  which  winds  among  the  Moraines 
on  its  way  to  tlie  lower  flat,  whence  it  is  precipitated  into  the  gorge  of  the 
Kadisha.  The  cedars  grow  on  that  portion  of  the  Moraine  which  imme- 
diately borders  this  stream,  and  nowhere  else."  — Dr.  Hooker,  p.  12. 


lY.J  THE    CEDARS.  255 

forms  of  the  life  of  the  wilderness  in  the  midst  of 
which  it  stands.  "  Nature  was  never  silent  in  the 
forest ;  the  cicale  here  were  extraordinarily  loud  ;  and 
the  trees  were  full  of  little  hirds  of  the  brightest  green 
and  gold  plumage,  with  a  sweet  clear  note."  ^  This 
is  the  scene  which  Ezekiel  contemplates  when  he 
describes  how  under  the  Cedars  "  all  the  fowls  of  the 
air  nestle,  and  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  brino;  forth 
their  young."  ^  Still  more  exactly  it  is  the  theatre  in 
which  the  Psalmist  gathers  too:ether  the  whole  of 
animal  hfe  round  "  the  Cedars  which  the  Lord  has 
planted  ;  "  "  the  birds  making  their  nests,"  the  "  storks 
in  the  fir-trees,"  the  marmot  or  shaphan^  ("coney") 
in  the  surrounding  cliffs  ;  the  chamois  on  the  hills,  the 
roarino;  of  the  lions  in  the  stillness  of  the  nig-ht*  — 
whilst  the  distant  view  is  filled  up  on  the  one  side  by 
the  sea,  with  its  monsters,  its  swarms  of  living  crea- 
tures, and  its  ships  ;  ^  and  on  the  other  by  the  "  gar- 
ment of  light "  in  the  sky,  the  "clouds"  and  "  the 
wind  "  on  the  mountain  ;  the  "  springs  of  the  Kadi- 
sha  and  of  the  other  rushing  streams  of  the  Lebanon  ; 
the  cornfields  and  the  vineyards  on  the  nearer  slopes 
for  the  service  of  humanity,  —  "to  make  glad  and  to 
strengthen  the  heart  of  man." 

And  if  their  very  appearance  and  aspect  thus  con- 
nects them  with  the  poetry  of  the  Bible,  their  history 

1  INIiss  Beaufort's  Syrian  Shrines^  288.  I  quote  from  this  as  a  detailed 
description  of  tlie  Cedars  in  summer. 

2  Ezek.  xxxi.  6. 

3  Ps.  civ.  17,  18. 

4  Ps.  civ.  21.  Lions  no  longer  exist  in  the  Lebanon.  But  leopards, 
which  alfo  infested  it  formerly  (Cant.  iv.  8),  are  still  found. 

5  Ps.  civ.  25,  26.  I  owe  this  remark  to  a  friend,  who  observed  on  the  spot 
that  all  the  natural  features  of  the  10-ith  Psalm  are  within  view  from  the 
Cedars. 


256  THE    CEDARS.  [IV. 

is  also  bound  up  with  its  history.  We  know  not  who 
first  attacked  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon,  but  ah'eady  in 
the  time  of  David  they  were  invaded  for  the  building 
of  the  palaces  at  Jerusalem.-^  Many  were  the  trees 
dragged  down  the  steep  descent,  no  doubt,  to  the  har- 
bor of  Tripoli,  to  be  embarked  on  rafts  for  Joppa. 
Thence  they  reappear  in  the  woodwork  of  Solomon's 
Temple, 2  and  in  the  vast  palace,  which  from  its  rustic 
casing  in  cedar  wood  seemed  to  be  almost  a  transplan- 
tation of  the  sacred  grove  to  Jerusalem,  *'  the  house  of 
the  forest  of  Lebanon  ;"  ^  whilst  in  the  gardens  the 
costly  cedars,  transplanted  from  Lebanon,  seemed  to 
have  taken  the  place  of  the  native  sycamore. 

For  statues,  for  houses,^  for  masts  of  ships,  the  huge 
branches  were  carried  off  to  Tyre  and  Zidon.  But  the 
great  destroyer  long  remembered  was  Sennacherib. 
He,  as  we  have  seen,  is  described  as  making  it  his  especial 
boast  that  he  had  penetrated  to  the  sacred  garden  or 
park,  and  cut  them  down.  It  is  on  his  approach  probably 
that  the  Prophet's  wail  is  lifted  up,  "  Open  thy  doors, 
O  Lebanon,  that  the  fire  may  devour  tliy  Cedars ;  howl, 
fir-tree,  for  the  Cedar  is  fallen."  ^  And  in  like  man- 
ner, on  his  fall,  the  triumphant  cry  is  raised  in  the 
lower  world,  "  Yea,  the  fir-trees  rejoice  at  thee  and 
the  Cedars  of  Lebanon,  saying,  since  thou  art  laid 
down  no  feller  is  come  up  against  us."  ^  From  that 
time  they  have  become  rarer  and  rarer.     Other  groups, 


1  2  Sam.  V.  11;  vii.  2;  1  Chron.  xxii.  4. 

2  1  Kings  V.  6,8,9;  vi.  9,  10. 
8  1  Kinss  vii.  2;  x.  17,27. 

4  See  the  passages  quoted  in  Robinson's  Lnt.  Res.  592. 
6  Zech.  xi.  1,  2.     It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  passage  probably 
belongs  to  the  earlier  prophet  of  that  name.    Zech.  ix.-xiii. 
8  Isa.  xiv.  8. 


IV.]  EHDEN.  257 

indeed,  are  said  to  exist  in  different  parts  of  the  moun- 
tain, but  they  have  been  seen  only  by  two  travellers.^ 
By  the  sixth  century  the  supply  of  cedar  wood  was 
almost,  by  the  fifteenth  century  entirely,  exhausted  for 
the  purposes  of  building.  And  now,  for  at  least  two 
centuries,  they  have  become  invested,  by  the  venera- 
tion of  pilgrims  and  by  the  increased  admiration  felt  for 
natural  objects,  with  a  sanctity  almost  approaching  to 
that  w^ith  which  they  were  formerly  revered  as  special 
miracles  of  Divine  power  by  the  Psalmists  of  Israel. 
The  old  Hebrew  name  of  Arz  has  never  deserted  them, 
and  is  even  perpetuated  in  the  puny  imitation  of  them 
in  the  Western  Larch?  The  Maronites  long  guarded 
them,  under  penalties  of  excommunication  :  ^  they  still 
honor  them  as  the  "  Twelve  Apostles,"  "  the  Friends 
of  Solomon."  The  sanctuary,  which  was  a  rude  altar, 
and  is  now  a  rude  wooden  chapel,  they  yearly  fre- 
quent on  the  festival  which  the  Oriental  Church  treats 
as  the  Feast  of  all  "  high  mountains,"  the  Feast  of  the 
Transfiguration.* 

This  was  our  last  expedition  in  Syria.  It  was  un- 
dertaken amidst  storm  and  rain,  which  drove  us  fr^om 
the  Cedar  grove,  shortly  after  we  had  reached  it,  back 
to  our  encampment  at  Ehden.  The  bells  of  the  Ma- 
ronite  churches  —  an  unwonted,  indeed  an  impossible, 
sound  in  any  other  region  of  Syria  —  (for  they  are 
tolerated    nowhere    else)    were  ringing,   almost  as  if 

1  Eobinson,  Lat.  Res.  592.  Dr.  Hooker  (12)  gives  several  reasons  for 
doubting:  the  ancient  extent  of  the  cedar  forests. 

2  El-Arz  corrupted  into  Alerce^  Larch. 

3  Robinson,  Lnt.  Res.  590. 

4  On  this  day,  the  monks  of  Athos  ascend  the  highest  peak  of  that 
mountain,  and  celebrate  a  midnight  service.  See  a  striking  description 
of  it  in  Vacation  Tourists  of  1861,  p.  118. 

17 


258  EHDEN.  [IV. 

witli  the  feeling  of  a  European  Sunday,  as  we  re- 
entered the  village.  Close  by  our  encampment  stood 
the  large  deserted  house  —  it  might  almost  be  called 
castle  —  of  the  Maronite  chief  Sheik  Joseph,  who,  in 
consequence  of  some  complications  arising  out  of  the 
late  disturbances,  had  been  banished  to  Constantinople. 
It  was  touching  to  see  the  excitement  and  distress  of 
the  villagers  over  the  loss  of  their  chief.  Wherever 
we  went  —  especially  whenever  the  Prince  appeared 
—  there  was  the  same  cry  amongst  the  men,  the  same 
beating  of  breasts  and  wailing  amongst  the  women, 
"  Restore  us  our  Bey,"  Oh  !  restore  us  our  Bey."  It 
was  after  a  walk  through  the  village  —  in  which  we 
visited  several  of  the  churches  and  cottages  of  the 
place  —  that  we  found  the  stairs  and  corridors  of  the 
castle  lined  with  a  crowd  of  eager  applicants,  ''  sick 
people  taken  "with  divers  diseases,"  ^  who,  hearing  that 
there  was  a  medical  man  in  the  party,  had  thronged 
round  him,  "  beseeching  him  that  he  would  heal  them." 
I  mention  this  incident  because  it  illustrates  so  forcibly 
those  scenes  in  the  Gospel  history,  from  which  I  have 
almost  of  necessity  borrowed  the  language  best  fitted 
to  describe  the  eagerness,  the  hope,  the  variety,  of  the 
multitude  who  had  been  attracted  by  the  fame  of  this 
beneficent  influence.  It  was  an  affecting  scene  ;  our 
kind  Doctor  was  distressed  to  find  how  many  cases 
there  were  which,  with  proper  medical  appliances, 
might  have  been  cured  ;  and,  on  returning  to  the  ship, 
by  the  Prince's  desire  a  store  of  medicines  were  sent 
back,  with  Arabic  labels  directing  how,  and  for  what 
purposes,  they  should  be  used. 

On  the  13 til  of  May  we  left  the   shores  of  Syria, 

1  Matt.  iv.  24;  Luke  vii.  3. 


IV.]  ARVAD,  259 

visiting  only  one  more  spot  in  departing  ;  a  spot  rarely 
seen,  but  ftill  of  interest  in  connection  both  with  Phoe- 
nicia and  with  the  Cedars  of  Lebanon.  Just  where 
Lebanon,  with  its  white  line  of  snow,  ends  and  melts 
away  on  the  north  into  a  range  of  low  green  hills, 
Phoenicia,  and  the  last  remains  of  Phoenicia,  also  end 
in  the  northernmost  of  the  Phoenician  cities,  Ar- 
vad,  Aruad,  by  the  Greeks  called  Aradus,  and  now 
Ruad.  Like  Tyre,  it  was  planted  on  a  rocky  island, 
a  few  miles  from  the  shore ;  like  Tyre,  it  is  de- 
scribed by  Strabo  as  crowded  to  excess  by  reason 
of  the  limited  range  of  the  island.  In  both  cities 
this  led  to  an  arrangement  which  must  have  made 
them  striking  exceptions  to  most  ancient,  and  to 
most  Oriental,  towns.  For  the  sake  of  economizino; 
the  narrow  space,  the  houses  of  both  were  built  up, 
regardless  of  earthquakes,  to  the  height  of  many  stories, 
resembling  the  aspect  of  no  other  city  of  the  old 
world,^  except  that  of  the  gigantic  mansions  of  Au- 
gustan Rome.  These  have  all  vanished  ;  but  on  the 
western  and  north-western  side  of  the  island  huo;e  rem- 
nants  still  exist  of  the  old  wall,  compacted  of  immense 
stones,  and  guarded  by  a  vast  trench  cut  through  the 
living  rock.  M.  Penan  had,  previously  to  my  journey, 
represented  these  remains  to  me  as  the  oldest  of  all  the 
monuments  of  Syria ;  and  such,  from  their  massive, 
archaic  appearance,  they  may  well  be  supposed  to  be. 

The  Aradians  or  Arvadites  were  of  old  famous  for 
their  nautical  skill,  and  are  said  to  be  so  still.      They 


^  Strabo,  xvi.  753.  It  is  a  minute  and  characteristic  proof  of  Lord 
Macaulay's  extensive  learning,  that  this  feature  of  Tyre  thus  incidentally 
noticed  by  Strabo,  is  caught  in  the  short  passing  notice  of  it  in  his  History 
of  England,  vol.  v.  204. 


260  ARVAD.  [TV. 

were  selected  from  the  rest  of  the  Phoenicians  for 
passing  on  rafts  up  and  down  the  Lycus  and  up  and 
down  the  Jordan  ;  ^  probably  in  connection  with  the 
transport  of  the  cedar  wood  to  Jerusalem.  If  ever 
Syria  were  to  recover  anything  of  its  former  commer- 
cial position,  the  harbor  of  Ruad  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  best  along  its  coast ;  ^  and  in  that  case  its  inhab- 
itants would  regain  some  portion  of  their  fame  in 
ancient  days,  when  they  so  powerfully  contributed  to 
the  naval  and  military  strength  of  Tyre  : 

"  High  on  the  stately  "wall 

'  The  spear  of  Arvad  hung.'  " 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Arvad  were  thy  mariners :  the 
men  of  Arvad  with  thine  army  were  upon  thy  walls 
round  about."  ^ 

1  Strabo  xvi.  755.  2  See  Allen's  Dead  Sea,  ii.  173. 

8  Ezek.  xxvii.  8, 11.     For  a  complete  description  of  Ruad  or  Arvad,  see 
Ritter's  Phoenicia  and  Lebanon,  p.  868-879. 


PATIOS. 


V.   PATMOS. 


THE  island  of  Patmos  does  not  fall  Tvathin  the  course 
of  any  Mediterranean  steamer.  It  was  therefore 
only  the  opportunity  afforded  by  our  homeward  voy- 
age in  H.  M.  Yacht  Osborne,  that  enabled  us  to  visit 
this  sacred  spot.  We  had  already  visited  Rhodes  and 
seen  the  excavation  of  one  of  the  tombs  at  Camirus. 
We  then  passed  through  the  marvellous  crater  of  the 
ancient  Thera,  the  modern  Santorin,  and  landed  on 
the  almost  desert  island  of  Antiparos,  to  explore  its 
famous  grotto,  and,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th 
of  May,  reached  the  harbor  of  Patmos. 

It  is  one  of  those  spots  of  which  there  are  not  a  few 
in  the  world,  —  especially  in  connection  with  Sacred 
History,  —  which  present  an  entire  blank  for  cen- 
turies, and  then  by  one  single  incident  acquire  an 
absolutely  universal  celebrity.  Such  in  Palestine  are 
Nazareth  and  Capernaum,  unknown  in  the  long  period 
of  Jewish  history  till  they  became  the  homes  of  Clu'ist. 
Such  in  the  Mediterranean  are  Malta  and  Patmos. 

Malta,  after  years  of  obscurity,  suddenly  springs  into 
light,  when  S.  Paul  and  his  companions  landed  on  its 
shores  from  the  di'iving  storm  and  "knew  that  the 
island  was  called  Mehta."  ^  This,  indeed,  was  but  the 
beginning  of  its  fame.     A  modern  history  was  still  in 

1  Acts  xxvii.  1. 


264  PATH  OS.  [V. 

reserve  for  it,  when  fifteen  centuries  afterwards  it 
became  the  reftige  of  the  Knights  of  S.  John,  and 
after  three  centuries  yet  again,  the  fortress  of  the  Eng- 
hsh  power  in  the  Mediterranean. 

But  Patmos  owes  its  fame  solely  to  its  connection 
with  "  the  Revelation  of  S.  John  the  Divine."  ^  Before 
that  time  it  is  mentioned  but  three  times  in  the  whole 
course  of  classical  literature  ;  twice  in  the  merely  pass- 
ing notices  of  Strabo  and  Pliny  ;  once  in  relation  to 
Greek  history,  when  the  Athenian  general  Paches 
pursued  the  Lacedemonian  fleet  "  as  far  as  Patmos."  ^ 

An  inscription,  preserved  in  the  island,  seems  to 
show  that  its  original  name  was  Patnos  ;  and  this,  like 
many  other  archaisms  of  the  Greek  language,  has  been 
pei-petuated  in  the  common  dialect  of  the  country,  in 
which  it  is  still  called  Patino?  A  legend  derived  the 
name  from  Trarr/^a  "the  footstep"  or  "stepping-stone" 
of  the  Sea  God.  The  Italian  corruption  of  Palmosa 
probably  arose  from  the  palms,  which,  with  the  rest 
of  the  vegetation  of  the  island,  have  gradually  disap- 
peared, and  now  only  are  to  be  found  in  one  spot  called 
"the  Saint's  Garden." 

The  island  is  about  fifteen  miles  in  circumference. 
It  is  remarkable  from  the  complexity  of  its  shape  and 
outline  ;  in  this  respect  bearing  a  singular  resemblance 
to  Ithaca,  and  presenting  a  striking  exam})le  of  that 
indentation  and  variety  of  coast,  wliich  has  been  often 

1  I  do  not  here  enter  into  any  of  the  other  questions  connected  with  the 
Apocalypse.     But  its  association  with  Patmos  is  undoubted. 

2  Strabo X.  p.  488;  Pliny  iv.  23;  Thucyd.  iii.  23. 

8  See  Dvscyipt'ion  de  l  He  de  Putnios,  par  V.  Giierin.  Paris,  1856.  From 
this  work  (the  knowledf^e  of  which  1  owe  to  the  kindness  of  my  friend  Dr. 
Howson)  I  have  taken  the  account  of  the  classical  notices  of  the  island, 
and  of  the  legendary  life  of  S.  John,  by  his  disciple  Prochorus. 


v.]  P  ATM  OS.  265 

remarked  as  characteristic  of  European,  and,  above  all, 
of  Grecian  geography.  Small  as  it  is,  Patmos  is  broken 
asunder  into  two  separate  insulated  peaks,  united  only 
by  a  narrow  isthmus,  and  whilst  the '  rocky  hills  are 
broken  into  innumerable  crags,  the  shore  is  indented 
with  innumerable  bays.  The  original  capital  was  ap- 
parently where  the  little  seaport  town  (La  Scala)  now 
stands  in  the  creek  formed  by  the  isthmus.  Its  an- 
cient name  seems  to  have  been  Phora,  and  its  Acrop- 
olis stood  on  a  rocky  hill  immediately  behind.  The 
present  city  (so  to  call  it)  is  clustered  round  the  mon- 
astery of  S.  John,  on  the  summit  of  the  southernmost 
of  the  two  peaks  of  which  the  island  is  composed. 
This  change  of  situation  is  worth  noticing;  as  an  illus- 
tration  of  two  characteristics  of  ancient  historical  topog- 
raphy; the  first,  that  which  Thucydides^  has  noticed 
in  Greece  generally ;  the  removal  of  the  town  inland 
from  its  original  situation,  where  it  was  more  exposed 
to  the  attacks  of  pirates,  —  a  calamity  to  which  the 
secluded  situation,  and  at  the  same  time  the  accessi- 
ble bays,  of  Patmos  rendered  it  singularly  liable  ;  the 
second,  that  which  I  have  ah'eady  noticed  in  speaking 
of  Hebron,  —  the  tendency  of  the  population  to  desert 
their  old  secular  habitations,  for  the  sake  of  clustering 
round  the  new  spots,  less  convenient  for  intercourse, 
but  more  available  for  the  sacred  resort  of  pilgrims 
and  worshippers.''^ 

"  I  John  was,"  or  rather  "became  a  dweller," ^  "in 
the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos  for  the  word  of  God  and 

1  Thucyd.  i.  7. 

2  The  monastery  was  founded  by  a  rich  Greek,  Christodulos,  in  1070. 
This  contains  the  celebrated  Library,  and  the  Charter  of  the  Foundation 
granted  by  Alexius  Comnenus. 

3  See  Dr.  Wordsworth  on  Eev.  i.  9.  eyev6fX7]v  not  ^v. 


266  PATH  OS.  [V. 

for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.''  This  is  the  sum 
total  of  our  authentic  information  of  the  circumstances 
of  S.  John's  stay  in  Patmos.  But  it  agrees  with  the 
general  tradition  of  the  early  Christian  writers  that, 
whether  under  Nero  or  Domitian,  he  was  exiled 
thither.  That  Patmos  should  have  been  selected  as 
a  place  of  exile  is  in  conformity  with  the  general 
usage  of  the  Roman  Empire,  according  to  which  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean  were  employed  for  this 
purpose ;  and  the  curious  simplicity  of  the  explana- 
tion, "  an  isle  that  is  called  Patmos,"  agrees  with  the 
actual  seclusion,  and  (as  before  noticed)  the  previous 
obscurity,  of  the  Island  itself. 

The  connection  of  Patmos  with  this  famous  exile 
divides  itself  into  two  parts  :  that  which  is  legendary 
or  traditional,  and  that  which  directly  illustrates  the 
Book  of  the  Apocalypse. 

(1.)  The  traditional  details  are  contained  in  a  work 
Traditions.  Called  "  The  Travels  of  S.  John  in  Patmos," 
professing  to  be  written  by  his  disciple  Prochorus,  and 
accepted  by  the  Greek  Church  as  authentic.  It  is 
evidently  a  late  work,  consisting  chiefly  of  prodigies 
performed  by  S.  John,  and  particularly  of  a  contention 
with  a  demon  of  the  name  of  Cynops,  who  lived  at 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  island,  and  was  ulti- 
mately transformed  ^(as  in  the  corresponding  legends 
of  the  Odyssey  at  Corcyra)  into  a  rock,  still  shown  in 
the  harbor.  Historically  worthless  as  is  this  story,  it 
is  interesting  as  the  only  record  of  the  ancient  names 
of  the  villages  of  the  island.  It  is  also  remarkable 
from  its  omissions.  It  contains  no  allusion  to  the 
Latin  legend  of  S.  John's  Roman  persecution ;  and 
it  has  no  mention  of  the  Apocalypse.     It  would  seem 


v.]  PATH  OS,  267 

as  if  the  ecclesiastical  jealousy  which  so  long  prevented 
the  recognition  of  the  Apocalypse  amongst  the  Canon- 
ical Scriptures,  had  thrown  it  into  the  shade  even  in 
the  legends  of  Patmos. 

On  the  composition  of  the  Gospel,  however,  the 
legend  lays  much  stress ;  and  this  it  places,  not,  ac- 
cording to  the  usual  and  probable  tradition,  at  Ephesus, 
but  in  Patmos.  In  a  striking  passage,  which  rises 
above  the  flatness  of  the  rest  of  the  narrative,  the 
Apostle  is  described  as  found  by  his  disciple  standing 
wrapt  in  prayer.  He  bids  Prochorus  take  pen  and 
paper ;  a  flash  of  lightning  and  a  peal  of  thunder  shake 
the  rocky  mountain,  and  the  Apostle  bursts  forth,  "  In 
the  beginning  of  the  Word,"  and  so,  he  standing  and 
Prochorus  seated  at  his  feet,  the  Gospel  is  recited  by 
him  from  first  to  last.  The  scene  of  this  transaction 
is  laid  by  the  legend  at  a  spot  called  "  The  Repose " 
(KaraTravo-is) .  This  is  still  pointed  out,  and  is,  in  fact, 
the  only  locality  in  the  island  directly  connected  by 
tradition  with  the  Apostle's  visit.  It  is  a  small  chapel 
half-way  up  the  hill,  between  the  town  on  the  summit 
and  the  port  at  the  foot.  It  professes  to  be  built  over 
the  cave,  in  which  the  vision  of  the  Apocalypse  was 
seen,  and  the  commencement  of  the  Gospel  was  writ- 
ten. The  rocky  floor  and  rocky  roof  of  the  cave  are 
visible  in  one  of  the  side  chapels^  Of  the  Apocalypse 
the  record  is  merely  a  picture  on  the  Iconostasis  of 
the  inner  chapel,  representing  the  vision  of  the  Angels 
of  the  Seven  Churches,  and  S.  John  asleep  beneath. 
As  in  the  legendary  biography,  the  composition  of  the 
Gospel  takes  the  chief  place.  S.  John  appears  in  a 
picture  dictating  it  to  Prochorus,  under  the  light  of 
an  illuminating  ray ;  at  the  entrance   is   shown   the 


268  P  ATM  OS.  [V. 

exact  spot  where  he  pronounced  the  opening  sen- 
tence of  the  Prologue  ;  and  a  triple  fissure  appears 
in  the  roof,  through  which,  according  to  the  barbarous 
simplicity  of  the  legend,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
is  said  to  have  been  revealed  to  him. 

(2.)  But  the  real  interest  of  a  visit  to  Patmos  con- 
Biustrations  sists,  uot  iu  tlic  cudcavor  to  ascertain  these 
aiypse..  Special  localities  of  a  doubtful  tradition, 
which,  even  if  true,  would  throw  no  clear  light  on 
the  events  or  characters  in  question,  but  in  the  in- 
quiry how  far  the  general  situation  yields  any  illus- 
tration of  the  vision  of  which  it  is  the  scene. 

The  Discourses  of  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of 
S.  Paul  are  raised,  for  the  most  part,  too  far  above  the 
local  circumstances  of  their  time,  to  allow  of  more  than 
a  very  slight  contact  with  the  surrounding  scenery. 
It  is  only  when  the  teaching  assumes  a  more  directly 
pictorial  or  poetic  foi-m,  as  in  the  Parables  of  the  Gos- 
pels, or  the  Athenian  speech  of  S.  Paul,  that  the  ad- 
jacent imagery  can  be- expected  to  bear  its  part.  But 
this  is  precisely  what  we  might  expect  to  find  in  the 
Apocalypse.  The  "  Revelation  "  is  of  the  same  na- 
ture as  the  prophetic  visions  and  lyi'ical  psalms  of  the 
Old  Testament,  where  the  mountains,  valleys,  trees, 
storms,  earthquakes,  of  Palestine  occupy  the  foreground 
of  the  picture,  of  which  the  horizon  extends  to  the  mi- 
seen  world  and  the  remote  future. 

For  this  reason  I  had  always  eagerly  desired  to  visit 
the  island  of  Patmos.  I  was  not  disappointed.  The 
stern  rugged  barrenness  of  its  broken  promontories 
well  suits  the  historical  fact  of  the  relegation  of  the 
condemned  Christian  to  its  shores,  as  of  a  convict  to 
his  prison.     And  the  view  from  its  summit,  with  the 


v.]  PATH  OS.  269 

general  character  of  its  scenery,  still  more  deeply  en- 
ters into  the  figures  of  the  vision  itself. 

He  stood  on  the  heights  of  Patmos  in  the  centre  of 
a  world  of  his  own.  The  island,  then  probably  less 
inhabited  than  now,  was  almost  a  solitude.  "  He  was 
in  the  Spirit,"  withdrawn  from  earthly  things,  like 
Moses  on  Sinai,  or  Elijah  on  Carmel.  But  the  view 
from  the  topmost  peak,  or,  indeed,  from  any  lofty  ele- 
vation in  the  island,  unfolds  an  unusual  sweep,  such 
as  well  became  the  "  Apocalypse,"  the  "  unveiling " 
of  the  future  to  the  eyes  of  the  solitary  seer.  It  was 
"a  great  and  high  mountain,"^  whence  he  could  see 
things  to  come.  Above,  there  was  always  the  broad 
heaven  of  a  Grecian  sky ;  sometimes  bright,  with  its 
"  white  cloud,"  ^  sometimes  torn  with  "  lightnings  and 
thunderings,"  and  darkened^  by  "great  hail,"  or 
cheered  with  "  a  rainbow  like  unto  an  emerald." 
Over  the  high  tops  of  Icaria,  Samos,  and  Naxos  rise 
the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor ;  amongst  which  would 
lie,  to  the  north,  the  circle  of  the  Seven  Churches  to 
which  his  addresses  were  to  be  sent.  Around  him 
stood  the  mountains  and  islands  of  the  Archipelago, 
—  "every  mountain  and  island^  shall  be  moved  out 
of  their  places ; "  "  every  island  fled  away,  and  the 
mountains^  were  not  found."  At  his  feet  lay  Patmos 
itself,  like  a  huge  serpent,  its  rocks  contorted  into  the 
most  fantastic  and  grotesque  forms,  which  may  well 
have  suggested  the  "  beasts  "  with  many  heads  and 
monstrous  figures,^  the  "  huge  dragon,"  struggling  for 
victory,  —  a  connection  as  obvious  as  that  which  has 

1  Rev.  xxi.  10.  4  ihid.  vi.  14. 

2  Ibid.  xiv.  14.  5  Ibid.  xii.  3,  9;  xvi.  20. 
8  Ibid.  iv.  3;  viii.  7;  xi.  19;  xvi.  21.                6  JUd.  xiii.  1,  21;  xvii.  3. 


270  P  ATM  OS.  [V. 

often  been  recognized  between  the  strange  shapes  on 
the  Assyrian  monuments  and  the  prophetic  symbols 
in  the  visions  of  Ezekiel  and  Daniel.  When  he  stood 
"on  the  sand  of  the  sea,"^  the  sandy  beach  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  he  would  see  these  strange  shapes 
"rise  out  of  the  sea "  ^  which  rolled  before  him. 
When  he  looked  around,  above  or  below,  "  the  sea  " 
would  always  occupy  the  foremost  place.  He  saw 
"  the  things  that  are  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth 
and  in  the  sea."*^  ^  The  angel  was  "  not  to  hurt  the 
earth  or  the  sea^^^^  nor  "  to  blow  on  the  earth  or  on  the 
«e«."  "  A  great  mountain,"  like  that  of  the  volcanic 
Thera,  "  as  it  were  burning  with  fire,"  was  "  to  be 
cast  into  the  sea^  ^  The  angel  was  to  stand  Avith 
"  his  right  foot  upon  the  sea,^  and  his  left  foot  on  the 
earth ; "  "  the  vial  was  to  be  poured  out  upo^i  the 
sea;^^"^  the  voices  of  heaven  were  like  the  sound  of 
the  waves  beating  on  the  shore,  as  "  the  sound  of 
many  waters ; "  ^  "  the  millstone  was  cast  into  the 
sea;^^^  "the  sea  was  to  give  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  it ;  "  ^^  and  the  time  would  come  when  this 
wall  of  his  imprisonment,  which  girdled  round  the 
desolate  island,  should  have  ceased  ;  "  there  shall 
be  no  more  sea."  ^^ 

Sucli  was  the  scene  of  the  Apocalypse,  varied,  doubt- 
less, by  otlier  images  drawn  from  the  Prophetic  books 
of  the   older  Scriptures,  and  from  the  report  or  the 

1  Rpv.  xiii.  1.'  8  Jbid.  V.  13;  x.  6;  xiv.  7. 

2  Ihirl.  xiii.  ii.  4  Jbid.  vii.  1-3. 

6  Jbid  viii.  8.  I  have  not  enlarged  upon  this.  But  the  extraordinary 
aspect  of  Thera  (the  modern  Santorin),  even  when  its  volcanic  fires  were 
dormant,  may  well  have  furnished  this  image. 

«  Rev.  X.  2,  5,  8.  9  Jbid.  xviii.  21. 

7  Jbid  xvi.  3.  10  Jbid.  XX.  13. 

8  Jbid.  xiv.  2;  xix.  6.  "  Jbid.  xxi.  1. 


v.]  PATH  OS.  271 

actual  sight  of  the  great  cities  of  the  earth.  These 
peculiarly  local  illustrations,  be  they  many  or  few, 
of  the  Apocalyptic  Vision  contrast  remarkably  with 
the  total  absence  of  illustration  of  the  Gospel  and 
Epistles  of  S.  John  as  derived  from  the  sight  of 
Ephesus.  The  ruins  of  Ephesus  we  saw  on  Ephesus. 
the  evening  of  the  same  day.  The  remains  of  the 
theatre,  built  into  the  side  of  Mount  Pion,^  if  we 
people  it  once  again  with  its  fiirious  mob,  piled  tier 
above  tier,  in  the  face  of  their  beloved  temple  of 
Diana,  give  a  lively  picture  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
Ephesian  silversmiths  against  S.  Paul.^  But  there 
is  nothing  to  recall  S.  John,  excej^t  the  rock-hewn 
tomb,  called  by  his  name,  near  the  summit  of  the  de- 
serted hill.  The  grave  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  Apos- 
tles,—  if  we  may  measure  greatness  by  the  divine 
excellence  of  the  works  which  bear  his  name,  —  lies 
overgrown  with  brushwood,  and  only  marked  by  the 
broken  offerings  of  a  few  Greek  peasants.  It  is,  if 
we  choose  so  to  Aaew  it,  a  true  emblem  of  the  spiritual 
elevation  of  his  spirit  and  of  his  words  above  any  mere 
earthly  associations  of  time  or  place.  We  understand 
the  Apocalypse  better  for  having  seen  Patmos.  But 
we  can  understand  the  Gospel  and  Epistles  of  S.  John 
as  well  in  England  as  in  Patmos  or  Ephesus,  or  even 
in  his  own  native  Palestine. 


It  is  needless  to  follow  the  homeward  route,  through 
the    well-knoAvn    scenes   of   Smyrna,    Constantinople, 

^  This  seems  to  be  the  correct  orthography  of  the  hill  usually  called 
Prion.     See  Faulkner's  Ephesus,  p.  27. 
2  Acts  xix.  29. 


272  CONCLUSION.  [V. 

Athens,  Cephallonia,  and  Malta,  to  the  conclusion  of 
our  Eastern  Tour  in  the  harbor  of  Marseilles.  A 
rapid  journey  brought  us  through  France.  On  the 
evening  of  the  14th  of  June,  His  Royal  Highness 
reached  Windsor  Castle  ;  and  the  travellers,  who  had 
lived  together  in  unbroken  intercourse  for  more  than 
four  eventful  months,  parted  to  their  several  homes. 
From  one,  —  the  chief  of  our  expedition,  —  it  was  a 
parting  for  life.  General  Bruce  on  the  27th  of  June, 
within  a  fortnight  after  our  return,  sank  under  the 
effects  of  a  fever  contracted  during  his  journey  in  the 
East.  To  him,  the  Queen  and  the  lamented  Prince 
had  confided  the  anxious  charge  of  the  Eastern  Tour. 
Throuo;h  his  unwearied  exertions  it  was  brought  to 
its  prosperous  conclusion ;  and,  if  in  the  foregoing 
pages  it  has  appeared  that  any  fresh  instruction  or 
profit  was  gained  from  revisiting  these  sacred  scenes, 
this  valued  increase  of  knowledge  is  an  additional 
ground  for  always  recalling  with  gratitude  the  mem- 
ory of  his  thoughtftd  care,  as  well  as  the  kindness  and 
consideration,  from  the  highest  to  the  humblest,  of  all 
those  who  cheered  the  trials  and  shared  the  pleasiu'es 
of  our  travels  in  the  East. 


CAMBUinCE:    PRINTED   BY   H.    O.    HOUGHTON. 


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